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250TH  ANNIVERSARY 
or  OLD   BPIDGEWATER 


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Wr:5T  I^PIDGIzWATi!!),  MAxSACHlLSrTT.S 


BRIDGEWATER,     MASS.: 

ARTHUR    H.    WILLIS,    PRINTER 

1907 


FIRST   CHURCH,   IN   WEST  BRIDGEWATER. 
Organized  1651. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  inception  of  the  plan  for  celebrating  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Old 
Bridgewater  was  expressed  in  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Old 
Bridgewater  Historical  Society  on  the  ninth  of  May,  1903. 

In  accordance  with  a  request  of  the  Trustees  of  this  Society, 
at  a  meeting  held  at  the  Memorial  Building,  West  Bridgewater, 
on  the  fourteenth  of  January,  1905,  preliminary  measures  were 
taken  for  a  suitable  celebration  of  the  anniversary  by  the 
appointment  of  a  provisional  Anniversary  Committee  consisting 
of  the  following  members  : — Hon.  Benjamin  W.  Harris,  chair- 
man, Joshua  E.  Crane,  Rev.  Howard  C.  Dunham,  Samuel  P 
Gates,  George  M.  Hoopei-,  Simeon  C.  Keith,  Rev.  E.  B. 
Maglathlin,  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Nutter,  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of 
October,  1905,  a  committee  of  five  gentlemen,  namely  : — Hon. 
James  S.  Allen,  Joshua  E.  Crane,  Henry  Gurney,  Fred  A. 
Hunting  and  Rev.  E.  B.  Maglathlin,  was  appointed  by  the 
Society  to  nominate  an  Executive  Anniversary  Committee  and 
other  committees  and  to  report  the  same  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Society. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical 
Society  held  on  the  twelfth  of  January,  1906,  the  report  of  this 
committee  was  presented  and  adopted  and  the  several  commit- 
tees were  empowered  to  enlarge  their  membership.  To  these 
committees  were  added  the  Cooperative  Committees  of  the 
towns  of  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater  and  West  Bridgewater 
which  were  chosen  by  the  several"  towns  at  the  request  of  the 
Society,  and  subsequently  the  members  of  all  committees  were 
included  in  the  list  of  the  general  Executive  Committee  of  the 
celebration. 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


At  the  annual  town  meetings  of  Bridgewater,  East  Bridge- 
water  and  West  Bridgewater,  in  response  to  a  petition  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  residing  therein,  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars  in  each  town  was  appropriated  for  the  purposes  of  the 
anniversary  to  be  expended  by  the  Historical  Society,  and  to 
this  sum  the  city  of  Brockton  was  invited  to  contribute  a  co- 
operative appropriation  to  be  expended  in  like  manner. 

In  view  of  the  desire  for  a  general  celebration  in  which  all 
citizens  should  unite,  with  larger  expenditure  than  had  been 
primarily  planned,  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society  at  its 
regular  meeting  on  the  thirtieth  of  April,  1906,  transferred  its 
responsibilities  to  the  General  Executive  Committee  and  efforts 
were  accordingly  made  to  obtain  additional  contributions  to  the 
treasury  of  the  committee. 

The  town  of  West  Bridgewater  unanimously  voted  to  appro- 
priate an  additional  sum  of  $300.00  towards  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  celebration,  and  to  empower  the  Selectmen  to 
draw  orders  on  the  town  treasurer  for  such  sums  as  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  should  deem  necessary,  not  to  exceed  the  sum 
of  $400.00,  provided  that  the  towns  of  Bridgewater  and  East 
Bridgewater  and  the  City  of  Brockton  each  apjjropriate  for  that 
purpose  a  sum  not  less  than  $400.00. 

And  it  was  further  provided  that  if  either  of  the  said  towns 
of  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater  and  the  City  of  Brockton 
appropriate  for  that  purpose  a  sum  less  than  $400.00  or  fail 
to  make  for  that  purpose  any  appropriation,  that  the  selectmen 
shall  be  authorized  .to  draw  on  the  town  treasurer  for  that  pur- 
pose sums  of  money  not  exceeding  the  average  amounts  appro- 
priated by  the  towns  of  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater  and  the 
City  of  Brockton. 

The  City  of  Brockton  failed  officially  to  grant  any  appro- 
priation for  the  purposes  of  the  celebration.  The  town  of 
East  Bridgewater  at  a  special  town  meeting  took  unfavorable 
action  in  relation  to  an  additional  appropriation  and  the  town 
of  Bridgewater  was  accordingly  not  requested  to  take  the 
matter  into  consideration. 

Individual  subscriptions  were  accepted  to  meet  the  require- 
ments   of    the  General   Executive  Committee  and  all  arrange- 


OLD   BRIDGEWATER 


ments  were  made  for  the  celebration  of  the  Anniversary  in 
accordance  with  the  original  purpose. 

All  citizens  of  the  original  territory  of  Old  Bridgewater 
were  invited  to  observe  the  day  with  patriotic  display  and 
decorations,  the  children  of  the  public  schools  were  invited  to 
participate  in  the  exercises  and  the  co-operation  of  the  com- 
mittees accomplished  the  tasks  committed  to  their  care  with 
gratifying  success. 

On  the  ninth  of  June,  1906,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  by  the  P>xecutive  Committee  : — 

That  the  chair  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  nominate  a 
committee  of  five  to  be  chosen  and  designated  a  Publication 
Committee  : 

That  said  Publication  Committee  be  authorized  to  call  upon 
the  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee  for  any  or  all  docu- 
ments belonging  to  said  committee  in  his  possession  : 

That  said  Publication  Committee  shall  thereafter  and  as 
soon  as  possible  prepare  a  record  and  historical  sketch  of  the 
Celebration  of  the  250th  Anniversary  of  Old  Bridgewater,  print 
and  publish  an  edition  of  the  same  : 

That  the  said  Publication  Committee  be  authorized  to  draw 
upon  the  Treasurer  of  the  Executive  Committee  for  such  sums 
of  money  as  he  may  have  at  his  disposal  for  that  purpose,  pro- 
vided that  the  books  shall  be  the  property  of  the  Executive 
Committee  to  be  circulated  or  distributed  as  the  said  Executive 
Committee  by  vote  shall  determine,  with  the  amendment,  that 
the  surplus  books  together  with  the  original  papers  and  docu- 
ments be  deposited  with  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical 
Society  as  custodian. 

Among  the  invited  guests  from  whom  were  received  letters 
of  regret  in  acknowledgement  of  their  invitation  to  be  present, 
were  : — Hon.  Winthrop  Murray  Crane,  United  States  Senator 
from  Massachusetts ;  Hon.  William  C.  Lovering,  member  of 
Congress  from  Fourteenth  District  of  Massachusetts  ;  Hon. 
William  S.  Greene,  member  of  Congress  from  Thirteenth  Dis- 
trict of  Massachusetts ;  His  Excellency  Hon.  Curtis  Guild, 
Governor  of  Massachusetts  ;  Hon.  Eben  L.  Draper,  Lieut.- 
Governor ;  Hon.    William    M.   Olin,   Secretary    of    State ;   Hon. 


8  25°"^^    ANNIVERSARY 


Arthur  B.  Chapin,  Treasurer  and  Receiver  General  ;  Hon.  John 
N.  Cole,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  Hon. 
George  H.  Garfield,  Senator  Second  Plymouth  District  ;  Hon. 
Albert  Davis,  Treasurer  of  Plymouth  County;  Mr.  C.  B.  Til- 
linghast,  State  Librarian  ;  Hon.  George  A.  Hibbard,  Postmas- 
ter of  Boston  ;  Hon.  Charles  K.  Darling,  United  States  Mar- 
shal ;  Hon.  Fisher  Ames,  Boston  ;  Hon.  Arthur  Lord,  President 
of  the  Pilgrim  Society  ;  Hon.  William  W.  Crapo,  President  Old 
Dartmouth  Historical  Society  ;  Capt.  George  A.  Gordon,  New 
England  Historic  Genealogical  Society  ;  Mr.  Frank  A.  Bates, 
Secretary  Orcutt  P'amily  Association  ;  Hon.  John  D.  Long, 
Hingham  ;  Hon.  William  L.  Douglas,  Brockton ;  Mr.  Frank 
Davis  Millet,  New  York  ;  Dr.  Myles  Standish,  Boston  ;  Rev. 
John  P.  Forbes,  Brooklyn  ;  Mr.  Judson  K.  Deeming,  Dubuque, 
Iowa  ;  Dr.  Edmund  Cone  Brush,  of  the  Ohio  National  Guard, 
Zanesville,  Ohio  ;  General  Oliver  O.  Howard,  by  letter  of  H.  S. 
Howard,  private  secretary,  Burlington,  Vt.;  Rev.  Thomas  D. 
Howard,  Springfield,  Mass.;  Rev.  George  A.  Jackson,  Librarian 
General  Theological  Library  ;  Mr.  Charles  A.  Elms,  Scituate; 
Mr.  Edward  H.  Cutter,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Hon.  Charles  G.  Nash, 
Chelesa ;  Mr.  Frederick  T.  Stuart,  Newton ;  Mr.  George  W. 
Stetson,  Esq.,  Middleboro  ;  Mr.  George  H.  Southard,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Letters  were  received  also  from  Mr.  Henry  W.  Robinson, 
of  Auburndale  and  Mr.  Ezra  Kingman,  of  East  Bridgewater, 
who  were  active  in  the  celebration  of  the  Two  Hundredth 
Anniversary  in  1856. 

It  was  with  deep  regret  that  Hon.  Benjamin  W.  Harris 
who  acted  as  toast  master  in  1856  was  prevented  by  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age  from  attending  the  exercises  of  the  day. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  occasion  was  the  presence  of 
Hon.  James  S.  Allen,  Mr.  DeWitt  C.  Packard  and  Rev.  James 
Reed  all  of  whom  participated  in  the  exercises  of  1856. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  several  committees  : — ; 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 

Hon.  James  S.  Allen,  Chairman. 

Mr.  Joshua  E.  Crane,  Secretary. 

Mr.  Ellis  Brett,  Treasurer, 


Mr.  George  J.  Alcott 
Mrs.  Clara  L.  Atwood 
Mr  William  Bassett 
Mrs.  Helen  G.  Bonney 
Mrs.  R.  C.  Boomer 
Mr.  A.  C.  Boyden 
Mr.  Otis  Cobb 
Mr,  F.  Irving  Cooper 
Mr,  Davis  Copeland 
Mr.  Thomas  W.  Crocker 
Mrs.  George  R.  Drake 
Mr,  E,  P,  Dunbar 
Rev,  H,  C.  Dunham 
Mrs.  N.  F.  Dunphe 
Mr.  W,  H,  Edgerly 
Mr.  H.  D.  Forbes 
Mr,  F.  E.  Fuller 
Mr.  F.  V.  Garey 
Mr.  S.  P.  Gates 
Mr.  Farnham  Gillespie 
Dr,  S,  J.  Gruver 
Mrs.  Lysander  F.  Gurney 
Mr.  R.  O.  Harris 
Mrs.  R.  O.  Harris 
Mr,  J.  B.  Hebberd 
Mrs.  Angie  W.  Holmes 
Mr,  George  M.  Hooper 
Mr,  Clinton  L.  Howard 
Miss  Edith  F.  Howard 
Mr.  Frank  L.  Howard 
Mr,  Fred  A.  Hunting 
Mrs,  George  O.  Jenkins 
Mr.  E.  D.  Josselyn 
Mr.  Eldon  B,  Keith 


Mr.  Edward  E.  Keith 
Mr.  Edward  H,  Keith 
Mr.  George  E.  Keith 
Mr.  Preston  B.  Keith 
Mr.  Simeon  C.  Keith 
Mrs.  Simeon  C.  Keith 
Mr.  Orvis  F.  Kinney 
Hon.  Nathan  W,  Littlefield 
Mr,  George  F.  Logue 
Mr,  E,  H,  Lothrop 
Dr,  C.  E.  Lovell 
Rer.  E.  B,  Maglathlin 
Mr,  Charles  F.  Mann 
Hon.  I.  N.  Nutter 
Hon.  W.  H.  Osborne    . 
Mr.  H,  D.  Packard 
Mr.  Moses  A.  Packard 
Mrs.  F.  W.  Parke 
Rev.  Albert  F.  Pierce 
Mrs.  Henry  T.  Pratt 
Dr.  L.  W.  Puffer 
Mr.  Walter  Rapp 
Mr.  L.  W.  Richards 
Mr.  B.  B.  Russell 
Miss  Mary  H.  Rust 
Mr.  William  A.  Rust 
Mrs,  Saba  K,  Sprague 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Stowe 
Mr.  Frank  E.  Sweet 
Miss  Sarah  P^,  Wilbar 
Mr.  Howard  B,  Wilbur 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Thayer 
Mr.  Arthur  H.  Willis 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Bridfjjewater 

E.  D.  Josselyn 
H.  D.  Packard 
William   Bassett 

F.  E.  Fuller 
L.  W.  Richards 


Town  Committees,  (ex  officio) 
appointed  by  the  towns. 

West  Bridgewater 
O.  F.  Kinney 
E.  H.  Lolhrop 
G.  F.  Logue 
East  Bridgewater 

W.  H.  Osborne 
R.  O.  Harris 
C.  F.  Mann 


F.  I.  Cooper 
Davis  Copeland 
H.  D.  Forbes 
S.  P.  Gates 
Preston  B.  Keith 
George  E.  Keith 


Finance  Co.m.aiittee. 

Ellis  Brett,  Chairman. 

Edward  H.  Keith 
Hon.  N.  W.  Littlefield 
E.  H.  Lothrop 
Hon.  I.  N.  Nutter 
Moses  A.  Packard 
W.  A.  Rust 


Programme  Committee. 
Rev.  E.  B.  Maglathlin,  (Chairman. 

Mrs.  Clara  L.  Atwood  Mrs.  Angle  W.  Holmes 

Prof.  A.  C.  Boyden  Mrs.  Simeon  C.  Keith 

Mrs.  Helen  G.  Bonney  Dr.  L.  W.  Puffer 

J.  E.  Crane  Miss  Mary  H.  Rust 

Rev.  H.  C.   Dunham  Rev.  Charles  E.  Stowe 
Miss  Edith  F.   Howard 


J.  E.  Crane 
F.  E.  Fuller 


Committee  on  Printing. 

Dr.  L.  W.  Puffer,  Chairman. 

Rev.  E.  B.  Maglathlin 
A.  H.  Willis 


Committee  on  Invitations. 

Hon.  B.  W.  Harris,  Chairman. 
Hon.  J.  Sidney  Allen  Edward  E.  Keith 

J.  E.  Crane  Rev.  E.  B.  Maglathlin 

Hon.  R.  O.  Harris  Dr.  L.  W.  Puffer 

Fred  A.  Hunting 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


Geo.  J.  Alcott 
F.  E.  Fuller 

E.  H.  Lothrop 

F.  E.  Sweet 


F.  V.  Garey 
Frank  L.  Howard 


S.  P.  Gates 
G.  F.  Logue 


Dinner  Committee. 
E.  P.  Dunbar,  Chairman. 

Mrs.  Clara  L.  Atwood 
Dr.  S.  J.  Grover 
Dr.  C.  E.  Lovell 


Music  Committee. 
L.  W.  Richards,  Chairman, 

J.  B.  Hebberd 


Procession  Committee. 
Dr.  A.  F.  Pierce,  Chairman. 


Reception 
Hon.  I.  N.  Nutter,  East 
Bridgewater 

H.  W.  Bragdon 
S.  P.  Gates 
Wales  Hayward 
Edward  A.  Hewett 

E.  D.  Josselyn 
R.  M.  Keith 
Charles  R.  Perkins 
Dr.  Calvin  Pratt 

West  Bridgewater 

George  R.  Drake 
Curtis  Eddy 
Farnham  Gillespie 

F.  L.  Howard 
J.  C.  Howard 
O.  F.  Kinney 

G.  F.  Logue 
Howard  B.  Wilbur 


Eldon  B.  Keith 
Hon.  W.  H.  Osborne 

Committee. 

Bridgewater,  Chairman. 
East  Bridgewater 
Royal  T.  Brett 
F.  E.  Fuller 
Arthur  Harris 
Fred  A.  Hunting 

A.  H.  Latham 
Prescott  H.  Pratt 
Dr.  A.  A.  Shirley 

Brockton 

Ebenezer  Alden 
Davis  Copeland 
Edward  H.  Keith 
Eldon  B.  Keith 
Frank  E.  Packard 
Charles  Penny 
L  N.  Reynolds 

B.  B.  Russell 


J.  E.  Crane 


Historic  Spots. 
F.  L  Cooper,  Chairman. 

Rev.  E.  B.  Maglathlin 


2SOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Rev.  E.  B.   Maglathlin,  West  Bridgewater,  Chairman 

J.  S.  Allen,  Jr.,  Brockton 

Hon.   Ziba  C.  Keith,  Campello 

Hon.  W.  H.  Osborne,  East  Bridgewater 

Rev.  C.   E.  Stowe,  Bridgewater 

Publication  Committee 


-:M.&:jSIM^^^.:^S^ 

r 

..^,«v    , 

PROG.RAIVIIVIE 

OF  THE 

Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 
Anniversary 

OF  THE 

^ETTLEMCNT  Or  THE  TOWN 

OF 

OLD  BRIDGE  WATER.  MASS. 


HELD  AT 

WEST  BRIDGEWATER, 

June  13,  1906. 


Bridgewater 

incorporated 

June  3, 

1656. 

0.  S. 

South  Parish 

" 

June  I, 

1716. 

0.  S. 

East  Parish 

(1 

Dec.  14, 

1723. 

0.  S. 

North  Parish 

(( 

Jan-  3, 

1738. 

0.  s. 

Titicut  (includin 

p-  part 

of  Middlcbon 

0)  Feb.  4, 

1743- 

0.  s. 

North  Bridgewater  incorporated         June  15,  1821. 

{Became  Brockton  Mar.  28,  i8-J4.) 

West  Bridgewater  incorporated  Feb.  16,  1822 

East  Bridgewater  "  June  14,  1823. 

City  of  Brockt07i  "  May  2^,  1881. 

The  present  tcnun  of  Bridgewater  7vas  the  old  South  Parish. 


Memorial  Building  of  the  Old  Bridgewater  Histor- 
ical Society  Dedicated  in  1901. 


PROGRAMME. 


9  A.  M.     Meeting   of    Citizens    at    the    Soldiers'    Monument, 
West  Bridgewater. 

Site  of  the  Second  Meeting  House  of  the  Original  Center. 

Music. 

The  Martland  Band  of  Brockton. 

Singing  by  the  pupils  of  the  Grammar  and  High  Schools  of 
Brockton,  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater  and  West 
Bridgewater. 

Introduction  of  Speakers  and  Special  Announcements  by  Rev.  Edward  B. 
Maglathlin,  Chairman  of  Programme  Committee. 

Address    of    Welcome,    Mr.    DeWitt    Clinton  Packard,    City 
Clerk  of  Brockton. 

Original  Hymn  by  Mrs.  Helen  G.  Bonney  of  Whitman. 

Tune  "Auld  Lang  Syne.''' 
Two  hundred  fifty  years  ago  We  call  to  mind  each  honored  name 

Our  fathers  settled  here  !  That  gave  the  town  its  worth  ! 

Made  Bridgewater  a  sacred  name,  Thank  God  that  to  such  ancestors, 

To  her  descendants  dear.  We  owe  our  favored  birth. 

Back  to  the  far  ancestral  days  Their  names  are  linked  with  noble  deeds 

Our  mem'ry  fondly  turns;  They  sanctified  the  past ; 

With  love  of  kin,  our  ancient  sires,       A  glorious  heritage  is  ours 
Each  heart  with  ardor  burns.  As  long  as  time  shall  last. 

From  North  and  South,  from  East  and  West, 

We  gather  here  today  ; 
With  reverent  and  loyal  hearts 

Our  grateful  tribute  pay, 
The  scattered  children  come  to  tread 

The  fields  their  fathers  trod. 
To  view  once  more  historic  spots. 
To  praise  their  father's  God. 

Song,  "Now  is  the  Month  of  Maying,"  Morley.      Bridgewater 
High  School,  John  B.  Hebberd,  Director. 


l8  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Song,  "O,  Who  Will  O'er  the  Down  !"  DePearsall.  .  Glee 
Club  of  the  Brockton  High  School. 

AMERICA. 

I  2 

My  Country,  'tis  of  thee,  My  native  country  !  thee, 

Sweet  land  of  liberty,  Land  of  the  noble  free, 

Of  thee  I  sing ;  Thy  name  I  love  ; 

Land  where  my  fathers  died  ;  I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 

Land  of  the  Pilgrim's  pride  Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, 

From  ev'ry  mountain  side.  My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Let  freedom  ring.  Like  that  above. 

3  4 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze  Our  fathers'  God !  to  thee, 

And  ring  among  the  trees  Author  of  liberty  ! 

Sweet  freedom's  song;  To  thee  we  sing; 

Let  mortal  tongues  awake.  Long  may  our  land  be  bright 

I.,et  all  that  breathe  partake,  With  freedom's  holy  light 

Let  rocks  their  silence  break,  Protect  us  by  thy  might. 

The  sound  prolong.  Great  God,  our  King  ! 

Forming  of  the  procession  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief 
Marshal  of  the  day,  Ira  L.  Kingman,  City  Marshal  of 
Brockton. 

The  line  of  march  includes  Central  Square,  River,  Arch  and  Bryant  Streets  to 
the  old  home  of  William  Cullen  Bryant,  to  John  Gary  monument,  thence 
through  South  and  River  Streets,  to  the  house  of  the  first  minister.  Rev. 
James  Keith  ;  thence  countermarching  through  River  to  Howard  Street, 
to  the  site  of  the  first  meeting  house  and  burying  place,  the  Memorial 
Building  of  the  Old  Biidgewater  Historical  Society,  to  Center  and  Main 
to  the  Pavilion  on  Drury  field. 

Address  at  the  Cary  Monument,  erected  in  memory  of  John 
Cary,  the  first  town  officer  of  Old  Bridgewater,  by  Rev. 
Seth  C.  Cary,  Dorchester. 

Address  in  memory  of  Minister  Keith,  by  Rev.  Sidney  Keith 
Bond  Perkins. 

Address  at  the  Memorial  Building,  by  Joshua  E.  Crane, 
Bridgewater. 

10  A.  M.     Music,  Martland  Band  of  Brockton. 
Call  to  order, 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  19 


Address,  introducing  Hon.   Robert  Orr  Harris,  President  of 
the  Day. 
Hon.  James  Sidney  Allen  of  Brockton,  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee. 

Devotional  Service. 

Invocation  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  Rev.  Edward 
B.  Maglathlin,  Minister  of  the  first  church  of  Old  Bridge- 
water,  (West  Parish.) 

Prayer,  Rev.  C.  A.  Henderson,  Minister  of  the  second  church 
of  Old  Bridgewater  (South  Parish.) 

President's  address,  H')n.  Robert  Orr  Harris,  of  Kast  Bridge- 
water. 

Music  by  the  Band. 

Original    Hymn,    by    Miss    Mar}'    Hall    Leonard,   formerly  of 
Bridgewater. 

Tune,  Brtdq'ewater. 
From  busy  mart  and  scattered  homes,  From  fretting  cares  of  strenuous  life 

Children  of  old  New  Enoland  sire«  To  memory's  scenes  we  turn  our  thought 

We  gather  here  with  loyal  hearts  And  ponder  what  the  generous  Past 

To  build  anew  their  altar  fires.  Of  gentle  ministries  hath  wrought; 

Upon  this  spot  where  first  they  dwelt.  While  mingling  notes  the  breezes  bring 

Our  songs  of  gratitude  to  raise  Of  hope  and  warning,  faith  and  cheer, 

And  let  our  reverent  souls  be  filled  And  echoes  manifold  of  those 

With  new  resolve  for  future  days  Who  lived  and  loved  and  labored  here. 

These  fleeting  hours  we  dedicate 
To  memories  of  an  earlier  age 
And  may  their  influence  stir  our  hearts 

To  guard  our  sacred  heritage, 
And  tell  the  children  what  it  means 

And  bid  them  still  with  courage  stand 
To  face  with  wisdom  problems  new 
And  safe  preserve  our  native  land. 

Address,  Hon.   Nathan  Whitman  Littlefield,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  formerly  of  East  Bridgewater. 

Music,  song,  "Yachting  Glee,"  Culbertson.     Glee  Club  of  the 
Brockton  High  School,  F.  V.  Garey,  Director. 


Music  by  the  band. 


Gary  Monument.      Erected  in  memory 
of  John  Gary,  the  first  town  offi- 
cer of  Bridgewater. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


Introduction  of  Hon.  Benjamin  W.  Harris,  President  Emeri- 
tus of  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society,  the 
Toastmaster  of  the  Celebration  of  1856,  and  of  Rev. 
James  Reed,  of  Boston,  the  Poet  of  the  Celebration  of 
1856. 

Carol  of  the  15th  Century,  "Lo!  How  a  Rose  'ere  Blooming," 
Praetorius,  by  Bridgewater  High  School. 

Address,  Dr.  Loring  W.  Puffer,  of  Brockton,  President  of  the 
Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society. 

Reading  of  announcements. 

Original  hymn,  "The  Pilgrim  Spirit,"  written  by  Rev.  Charles 
Edward  Stowe,  Minister  of  Central  Square  Congrega- 
tional Church,  Bridgewater. 

Tune.,  Duke  Street. 

1  6 

One  Life  pervades  all  Nature's  frame,  No  lust  for  power,  no  greed  for  gold 

In  planets,  men,  and  flowers  the  same.  Could  lure  to  shame  those  settlers  old. 

The  minds  that  think,  and  stars  that  shine  The  virtues  that  to  them  belong 

Reveal  an  innate  Power  divine.  Rebuke  each  age  of  selfish  wrong. 

2  7 

Though  heedless  men  in  slumber  lie.  They  built  on  Truth's  foundation  strong 

Or  hurl  defiance  'gainst  the  sky.  Where  right  is    right,  and  wrong    is 

His  throne  is  from  eternity ;  [wrong. 

He  ruleth  by  a  firm  decree.  So  freedom,  laws,  and  peace  abound 

Wherever  Pilgrim-seed  is  found. 

3  8 
Almighty  God !  from  age  to  age  And  still  from  age  to  age  endure 

Thy  finger  turns  each  opening  page.  The  fruits  of  faith  and  love  so  pure. 

Embraced  in  Thine  eternal  plan.  Like  drops  of  iron  in  the  blood. 

We  trace  the  slow  advance  of  man.  They  onward  flow  a  precious  flood. 

4  9 

Our  Fathers  saw  Thy  beck'ning  hand.  And  everywhere  New  England's  name 

That  bade  them  to  this  goodly  land.  Is  fragrant  with  the  Pilgrim's  fame. 

Nor  men,  nor  beasts,  nor  raging  sea,  A  mighty  power  to  guard  and  save 

Could  daunt  those  hearts  that  trusted  Still  issues  from  each  honored  grave. 

[Thee. 

5  10 

They  trusted  Thee  without  a  fear.  So  hushed  be  all  our  boasting  then. 

Or  creep  of  flesh  at  danger  near,  Till  we  can  show  more  glorious  men ; 

The  Iron  of  their  rigid  creeds  Among  the  sons  of  mortal  man. 
They  hammered  out  in  noble  deeds.  Who  nobler  than  the  Puritan? 

Benediction,  Rev.  Bertram  D.  Boivin,  Minister  of  the  third 
church  of  Old  Bridgewater  (East  Parish.) 


22  250TH     ANNIVERSARY 


I  P.  M.  Invocation,  Rev.  Alan  Hudson,  Minister  of  the 
fourth  church  of  Old  Bridgewater,  (North  Parish,  now 
Brockton.) 

DINNER. 

Offering  of  thanks,  Rev.  James  J.  Farrelly,  Minister  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Bridgewater. 

Music. 

Reading  of  letters  of  invited  guests  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Executive  Committee. 

Remarks  by  the  President  of  the  Day,  introducing  the  Toast- 
master  of  the  Day  Hon.  William  H.  Osborne,  East 
Bridgewater. 

Sentiments. 

Our  Country. 

Our  Commonwealth,  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  Hon. 
Curtis  Guild. 

Music. 

The  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorpora- 
tion of  Old  Bridgewater,  Mr  Joshua  E.  Crane,  Bridge- 
water,  Mrs.  Lysander  F.  Gurney,  Brockton. 

Original  hymn,  "Old  Bridgewater,"  written  by  the  late 
Edward  Alden — a  beloved  and  revered  organizer  of  the 
Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society  and  publisher  of  the 
latest  edition  of  Mitchell's  History  ot  Bridgewater. 

Tune,   Christmas. 
I  2 

The  Pilgrim  band,  who  hither  came  Their  purpose  was  to  find  a  place 

In  the  years  long,  long  ago,  (And  may  their  tribe  increase,) 

Came  not  for  glory,  nor  for  fame  Where  they  and  all  their  worthy  race 

As  all  the  world  should  know.  Might  live  and  die  in  peace. 

3    ,  4 

Methinks  not  all  now  living  here,  If  one  will  try  to  estimate 

As  yet  quite  understand  The  work  that  there  was  done 

How  hard  the  life,  how  very  drear  He  surely  will  appreciate 

At  first  was  this  fair  land.  What  here  was  then  begun. 

'Twere  well  to  set  apart  a  day 

And  gather  'round  the  spot ; 
And  songs  of  praise  and  honor  pay 

That  here  was  cast  their  lot. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  23 


The  Clergy,  Rev.  Howard  Cary  Dunham,  West  Bridgewater; 
Rev.  Julian  S.  Wadsworth,  Brockton;  Rev.  George  B. 
Titus,  Brockton. 

Education,  Mr.  Albert  G.  Boyden,  Principal  State  Normal 
School,  Bridgewater;  Barrett  B.  Russell,  Superintendent 
of  the  Schools  of  Brockton. 

Music. 

Medicine,  Dr.  Ebenezer  Alden  Dyer,  Whitman. 
The  Law,  Hon.   Warren  A.  Reed,  Brockton,  James  S.  Allen 
Jr.,  Brockton. 

Music. 

Our  Business  Men,  Hon.  James  J.  Dowd,  City  Solicitor  of 
Brockton. 

Our  Adopted  Citizens  and  their  children,  Professor  F.  H. 
Kirmayer,  Bridgewater;   Mr.  John  S.  Kent,  Brockton. 

Duxbury,  the  Mother  Town  of  Bridgewater,  Laurence  Brad- 
ford, Duxbury;  Hon.  Clarence  A.  Chandler,  East  Bridge- 
water,  Representative  of  the  8th  Plymouth   District. 

The  Purchasers  of  Old  Bridgewater,  Rev.  Melvin  S.  Nash, 
Hanover. 

Massasoit  and  the  Indians,  Rev.  Charles  Edward  Stowe, 
Bridgewater. 

The  County  of  Plymouth,  Hon.  Walter  H.  Faunce,  Kingston. 

The  County  of  Bristol,  Hon.  William  E.  Fuller,  Taunton. 

Our  Only  City,  His  Honor  the  Mayor,  Frederick  O.  Bradford 
Brockton;  Rev.  Albert  F.  Pierce,  Brockton. 

Our  Neighbors,  Hon.  Thomas  Weston,  of  Newton,  formerly 
of  Middleboro  ;  Rev.  Charles  E.  Beals,  of  Cambridge, 
formerly  of  Stoughton. 

The  Deborah  Sampson  Chapter  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  Mrs.  George  O.  Jenkins,   Regent,  Whitman. 


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Home  of  the  Rev.  James  Keith,  the  first  minister 
of  Bridge  water,  1662-17 19. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  25 


The  Ousamequin  Club  of  Bridgewater,  Mrs.  George  M.  Web- 
ber President ;  East  Bridgewater. 

The  Old  Colony  Chapter  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution. Pres.  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Nutter,  East  Bridgewater; 
Past  Pres.  Rev.  L.  B.  Hatch,  Whitman. 

Our  brethren  of  Ancient  Bridgewater,  and  of  Somersetshire, 
England. 

Music  by  the  band. 

Doxology. 

Benediction,  Rev.  Francis  B.  White,  Minister  of  St.  Paul's 
Episcopal  Church,  Brockton. 


*      * 


*'U^et  ihe  work  of  our  faihers  stand. 


ADDRESSES. 


Address  of  Welcome, 

Mr.  DeWitt  Clinton  Packard,  City  Clerk  of  Brockton. 


Fellow  citizens,  and  sons  and  daughters  of  Old  Bridgewater, 
and  it  matters  not  this  morning  whether  you  are  her  sons  and 
daughters  by  birth  or  by  adoption;  she  greets,  she  welcomes 
you  all. 

She  opens  to  us  today  the  precious  pages  of  her  history 
and  points  with  just  pride  to  the  venerated  names  of  her 
founders — brave,  noble,  self-sacrificing  men  and  women,  with 
the  stern  virtues  of  their  time,  who  came  to  this  spot  250 
years  ago,  with  strong,  liberty-loving  and  God-fearing  hearts, 
and  planted  the  rose  of  civilization  in  the  wilderness. 

Their  sublime  faith,  the  unflinching  devotion  to  duty,  glorify 
their  humble  lives  and  make  forever  memorable  and  sacred  to 
us  the  scene  of  their  dangers,  their  struggles  and  their  tri- 
umphs. 

It  is  well  for  us  that  we  have  come  today  with  reverent 
pilgrim  feet,  to  tread  a  soil  so  consecrated,  and  with  thankful 
hearts  to  realize  our  rich  inheritance  in  their  brave  example,  a 
heritage  more  precious  than  titles,  or  wealth,  or  worldly  power; 
and  may  the  observances  of  this  day  quicken  in  us  our  love  of 
liberty,  of  truth  and  of  civic  virtue,  and  may  the  memories  of 
this  occasion  long  remain  with  our  youth,  whom  we  greet  here 
this  morning,  to  lead  them  and  their  posterity,  when  we  shall 
have  passed  away,  to  come  like  us,  to  this  cradle  of  the  Bridge- 
waters  and  bring  to  this  spot,  with  willing  and  pious  hands,  the 
tribute  of  their  devotion  to  the  memory  of  the  old  town. 


28  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Address  at  Gary  Monument. 

Rev.  Seth  C.  Gary  of  Dorchester. 


It  is  not  only  an  honor  but  a  privilege  to  stand  here  at  this 
monument,  erected  to  John  Gary,  the  first  official  of  this  ancient 
town,  and  speak  a  word  for  his  descendants.  It  is  an  auspicious 
day — the  250th  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  Old  Bridge- 
water,  now  grown  to  three  towns  and  a  busy,  bustling  city. 

It  was  hereabouts  that  John  Gary  lived  and  loved  and 
labored.  It  was  here  that  he  exercised  the  office  of  the  clerk  of 
the  corporation  of  the  Duxbury  New  Plantation,  and  also  per- 
formed the  duties  of  constable,  which  was  at  that  time  "second 
only  to  that  of  governor."  He  was  "the  only  officer  in  the 
town  whose  duty  it  was  to  execute  the  laws,  and  his  power  was 
almost  absolute.  He  could  arrest  on  suspicion,  without  pre- 
cept, a  power  scarcely  allowed  at  the  present  day  to  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  nation."  It  was  here  that  he  planned  for  home 
and  church  and  state.  It  was  here  he  lived  and  died  ;  and  his 
descendants  have  erected  a  humble  monument,  to  mark  in  a 
general  way,  and  perpetuate  a  memorial  of  the  virtues  of  a  man, 
an  officer  and  a  citizen. 

Now,  the  spirit  that  led  these  men  to  do  these  things  was 
not  bounded  by  the  thought  that  it  was  simply  a  town  they 
were  founding,  but  rather  it  was  to  them  a  missionary  work.  It 
was  first  the  family  ;  then  the  church  ;  then  the  school  ;  and 
then  the  State. 

It  is  an  old  saying  that  New  England  has  gained  her  wealth 
by  building  schoolhouses  ;  and  in  this  presence  I  humbly  beg 
leave  to  enlarge  that  thought  a  little  and  say  :  New  England 
has  gained  her  wealth  by  building  schoolhouses  and  erecting 
monuments.  But  we  need  a  few  more.  Will  you  allow  me  to 
mention  two  : 

I. — The  old  Keith  house.  This  house  should  either  be 
bought  or  at  least  suitably  marked.  Rev.  James  Keith  of 
Aberdeen,  Scotland,  preached  here  for  56  years.  The  old 
house  is  still  here  and  should  become  a  Mecca  to  all  Pilgrims. 

2. — The  centre  of  this  old  town  should  be  marked.      It  was 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  29 


the  old  "wear  at  Satucket"  from  which  the  limits  of  the  town 
were  to  be  established.  They  were  "seven  miles  due  east  ; 
seven  miles  due  west  ;  seven  miles  due  north  ;  seven  miles  due 
south."  That  was  old  Bridgewater.  Mark  these  by  all  means. 
Then  give  us  a  map  of  it,  and  you  will  have  rendered  a  good 
service. 


Address  in  Memory  of  Minister  Keith. 

Rev.  Sidney  Keith  Bond  Perkins  of  Raynham. 


To  the  children  of  the  Bridgewaters  and  Brockton  : 

I  hope  this  will  be  a  happy  day  for  you  and  one  that  you 
will  long  remember.  I  am  given  four  minutes  to  address  you  in 
and  what  shall  I  say  in  that  time .'' 

For  a  purpose  I  wish  to  refer  to  some  things  that  may  be 
you  have  thought  of  before.  Mr.  Daniel  Chester  French 
designed  and  carved  from  marble  a  statue  to  represent  America- 
It  consisted  of  a  noble  woman.  Behind  her  is  standing  an 
Indian  ;  at  her  side  is  an  artisan,  one  skilled  in  the  manage- 
ment of  machinery  ;  on  the  other  side  is  an  eagle — an  American 
eagle,  of  course. 

Now  how  well  this  represents  the  people  of  the  Bridgewaters, 
The  first  settlers  of  Bridgewater  were  honest,  upright  men,  so 
that  when  they  came  to  settle  here  they  bought  the  land  for 
their  ownership  of  the  Indians  at  a  fair  price  ;  and  their  descen- 
dants have  had  the  name  of  being  honest,  upright  men  and  well 
educated.  The  Bridgewaters  among  all  the  towns  in  the  State 
have  had  an  honorable  reputation.  They  have  furnished  gover- 
nors, congressmen  and  men  to  fill  other  high  stations,  and 
soldiers  at  their  country's  calls.  They  have  manifested  inge- 
nuity in  iron  works  and  in  the  perfection  of  the  shoe.  So  in 
other  branches  of  industry.  They  have  been  a  moral  people  ; 
in  every  section  they  have  maintained  the  public  worship  of 
God. 


30  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Now,  children,  you  wish  to  be  able  to  take  the  places  of 
those  who  are  the  good  citizens  of  the  towns  in  which  you  live. 
The  good  men  and  the  good  women  will  pass  away,  and  will  their 
places  be  well  filled  ?     That  depends  on  the  course  you  pursue. 

Let  me  mark  it  out  for  you  in  brief,  what  is  the  right 
course.  At  home  you  will  be  obedient  to  your  parents  and 
kind  to  each  other  and  truthful.  At  school  you  will  be  indus- 
trious and  try  to  learn  your  lessons.  Some  will  give  better 
recitations  than  others,  but  let  everyone  persevere  and  each  will 
come  out  right.      In  your  games  be  fair. 

And  now  as  to  your  habits.  Let  all  intoxicating  drinks 
alone  and  the  deadly  cigarette.  I  knew  of  a  boy,  once  a  fine 
scholar,  who  lost  his  mind  and  became  an  idiot  through  the  use 
of  cigarettes. 

And  now,  finally,  read  the  Bible.  Its  precepts  are  true,  and 
the  lives  of  the  Christ  and  of  the  good  men  recorded  are  most 
worthy  of  study  and  imitation. 

So  will  you  have  happy  lives  and  be  prepared  to  take  the 
places  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  your  turn. 


Address,  Introducing  Hon.  Robert  Orr  Harris, 
President  of  the  Day. 

Hon.  James  Sidney  Allen  of  Brockton,    Chairman  of 
Executive  Committee. 


Fellow  citizens,  this  assembly  has  gathered  to  celebrate  the 
250th  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  Ancient  Bridgewater  as 
a  township  in  1656.  It  was  divided  afterwards  into  separate 
municipalities:  North  Bridgewater,  1821  ;  West  Bridgewater, 
1822  ;  East  Bridgewater,  1823,  leaving  the  South  to  retain  the 
old  name.  Fifty  years  ago  the  people  of  these  towns  com- 
prising the  greater  part  of  the  territory  of  the  original  town- 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  3 1 


ship,  assembled  where  we  are  today,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  first 
settlement,  in  celebration  of  the  second  centennial. 

It  was  a  large  and  enthusiastic  gathering  promoted  by; 
volunteer  committees  of  twelve  men  from  each  town.  The 
expenses  were  met  by  equal  town  appropriations  voted  in  legal 
town  meetings.  A  book  was  published  by  that  committee 
recording  their  work  and  a  verbatim  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  celebration,  including  many  local  statistics.  The  commit- 
tee printed  therein  an  address  to  those  who  may  celebrate  the 
third  centennial. 

Inasmuch  as  when  that  time  arrives  in  1956  every  person 
now  living  who  remembers  the  former  celebration  will  have 
passed  away,  and  there  are  many  now  present  who  remember  or 
witnessed  that  occasion,  a  strong  desire  has  been  expressed  to 
observe  this  year  the  quarter  millennial,  to  view  some  of  the 
ancient  landmarks  and  historic  spots  associated  with  the  homes 
of  the  proprietors  of  this  Duxbury  plantation  of  Bridgewater,  so 
that  not  only  the  printed  page,  but  the  living  voice  may  perpet- 
uate from  one  era  to  another  the  memories  of  the  past. 

Accordingly  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society,  which 
was  organized  in  1895,  seeing  no  movement  in  this  direction, 
took  the  initiative  and  began  preparations  for  the  events  of  this 
day. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that  a  broader  basis  of  action  was 
wise  and  necessary.  Appeals  were  made  to  the  public,  to  the 
towns  and  city  authorities  for  co-operation  and  financial  aid. 
The  towns  voted  $100  each  and  authorized  their  selectmen  to 
represent  them.  Many  citizens  came  forward  to  join  in  the 
preparations,  also  several  ladies,  officers  and  members  of 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 

The  result  has  been  the  formation  of  a  large  Executive 
Committee,  not  less  than  seventy  members,  combining  the 
original  committee  of  the  Historial  Society,  the  selectmen,  the 
citizens  and  ladies  of  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution, 
many  of  whom  have  met  often  and  worked  constantly  during 
recent  months  in  making  plans  and  perfecting  arrangements  for 
the  occasion. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  congratulate  you  upon  the  bright 


32 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


prospects  before  us  on  this  auspicious  morning.  And  now  the 
high  honor  devolves  on  me  as  chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements  of  introducing  as  president  of  the  day 
who  will  direct  the  coming  exercises,  His  Honor,  Judge  Robert 
Orr  Harris  of  East  Bridgewater. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  33 


Address. 

Hon.  Robert    Orr    Harris  of    East    Bridgewater,  President 

of   the  Day. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Old  Bridgewater  His- 
torical Society,  Citizens  of  Old  Bridgewater :  You  and  your 
friends  from  surrounding  towns,  Middleboro,  Abington,  Whit- 
man, Stoughton,  Easton,  some  parts  of  which  were  once 
included  in  the  territory  of  Old  Bridgewater,  are  gathered  here 
today,  moved  by  a  common  sentiment  and  bound  by  a  common 
interest.  In  celebrating  our  anniversary  we  are  commemorat- 
ing things  that  appeal  to  all  New  England  hearts.  The  towns 
of  this  county  are  sisters,  and  have  the  family  traditions.  We 
celebrate  because  250  years  ago  today  this  entry  was  made 
upon  the  records  of  the  court  at  Plymouth  :  "Ordered,  that 
henceforth  Duxburrow  New  Plantation  bee  allowed  to  be  a 
townshipe  of  yt  selfe,  destinct  from  Duxburrow,  and  to  be 
called  by  the  name  of  Bridgewater,  provided  that  all  publick 
rates  bee  borne  by  them  with  Duxburrow  upon  equal  propor- 
tions." 

We  are  met  to  celebrate  this  anniversary  of  that  day ;  to 
utter  words  of  praise,  for  and  thanks  to  the  forefathers  who  had 
that  entry  made.  It  is  not  for  me  to  enter  upon  a  detailed  his- 
torical account  of  them,  their  struggles,  failures  and  achieve- 
ments. That  will  be  for  others  to  do.  When  the  loving  sons 
and  daughters  met  fifty  years  ago  today,  it  was  the  first  Bridge 
water  birthday  party.  They  had  much  to  talk  about,  much  to 
take  pride  in  and  rejoice  over.  They  gave  thanks  to  the  ances- 
tors for  their  courage,  sturdiness  and  wisdom,  but  no  person 
whose  praises  were  sung  was  present  to  hear  the  song. 

Today  we  have  with  us  many  who  were  present  on  that 
day  and  who  can,  for  us,  link  the  present  with  the  past. 

Their  added  fifty  years  of  life  have  been  years  filled  with 
marvels.  No  other  fifty  years  of  which  known  record  exists 
have  shown  such  progress  in  almost  every  department  of  life. 
In  every  department  of    endeavor  that  has  for  its  object  the 


34  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


bettering  of  material  and  physical  conditions,  science  has 
demonstrated  that  everything  obeys  some  law,  which  is  con- 
stant, immutable,  to  be  always  relied  upon.  The  scientific 
man  now  seeks  only  to  know  the  law,  that  he  may  thereafter 
follow  it.  No  miracles  are  looked  for,  but  only  knowledge  of 
that  long  ago  established  and  ordained,  to  await  the  finding  of 
the  patient  searcher. 

I  have  said  that  our  progress  had  been  great  in  almost  all 
departments  of  life,  and  I  said  "almost"  advisedly.  That  we  have 
progressed  in  everything  that  pertains  to  material  comfort  is 
beyond  question.  That  we  have  advanced  in  knowledge  cannot 
be  doubted  for  a  moment.  As  our  comfort  and  our  knowledge 
have  increased  our  opportunities  for  advancement  in  mental  and 
moral  power  have  increased  also.  Meeting  as  we  do,  to  give 
honor  and  praise,  both  to  the  founders,  who  have  passed  to 
their  reward,  and  those  of  the  later  generations,  still  with  us, 
but  whose  sun  is  sinking  into  the  west,  is  it  not  well  to  ask, 
"What  do  we  really  honor  in  them,  and  if  the  forefathers  were 
here  today  what  would  they  find  praiseworthy  in  us  .-*"  What 
was  honorable  in  the  father  in  the  sight  of  men,  must  be  honor- 
able in  the  son,  and  if  the  son  will  follow  that  which  causes  him 
to  honor  his  father,  he  may  be  sure  of  honor  in  his  turn.  Why, 
then,  do  we  celebrate  this  day  .''  Why  do  we  invoke  the  Divine 
blessing  upon  this  assembly .''  Certainly  not  because  fifty-four 
men  decided  to  live  in  this  particular  spot  of  earth.  Certainly 
not  because  we,  their  successors,  have  become  to  be  quite  com- 
fortable here.  It  cannot  be  that  we  are  met  to  congratulate 
each  other  on  our  own  achievements.  Ah,  no  !  The  reason  is 
deeper,  broader  and  more  permanent,  and  has  really  little  to  do 
with  merely  material  things. 

The  character  of  the  men,  the  ideas  and  principles  that 
they  stood  for  and  maintained  are  what  we  honor.  The  ques- 
tion that  we  must  ask  ourselves  is  whether  we  can  come  to  the 
ancestral  home  and  say  that  that  portion  of  our  heritage  is 
intact  and  bright. 

These  forefathers  of  ours  were  sturdy  citizens  of  an  older 
country,  in  which  for  a  thousand  years  men  had  wrought  and 
struggled  to  establish  a  civilized  government,  a  system  of  laws, 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  35 


and  a  rational  religion.  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  had  con- 
tributed men  and  ideas  to  the  making  of  the  English  people. 
A  satisfactory  and  generally  just  system  of  laws  for  governing 
the  ordinary  daily  affairs  of  the  people  had  been  worked  out.  I 
say  worked  out,  because  I  mean  that  it  was  the  result  of  trial 
and  contest  and  of  experiment  to  find  the  law  which  should  be 
adopted  and  obeyed.  Hard  fighters  had  the  English  people 
been,  not  afraid  of  contest,  if  there  was  no  other  way  to  estab- 
lish the  right.  Religious  intolerance  drove  them  here,  but 
when  they  came  they  brought  a  knowledge  of  government  with 
them,  and  deep  religious  convictions,  strengthened  by  years  of 
adversity  and  trial.  Stern  and  hard  we  sometimes  call  them. 
Harsh  and  narrow  we  call  their  religious  views.  Although 
such  statements  open  a  subject  for  debate,  at  this  time  we  may 
agree  that  both  are  true.  The  important  thing  is,  not  what 
their  views  or  faith  were,  but  that  they  honestly  had  them,  and 
lived  to  and  by  them.  Their  system  of  laws  we  have  adopted 
and  continued,  and  their  basic  ideas  of  government  are  ours. 
They  adapted  them  here  to  new  conditions,  and  we  do  the  same 
from  time  to  time.  Their  civic  character  showed  itself  in  their 
civic  laws,  and  we  find  in  them  the  spirit  of  justice.  The 
supreme  test  of  religious  conviction  is  the  sacrifice  one  will 
make  for  it.  Here  we  can  find  reason  for  honor.  Strangers,  in 
a  strange  land,  with  every  material  discomfort  and  disadvantage 
before  them  to  be  overcome,  and  every  inducment  to  pursue 
physical  good  only,  they  had  the  wisdom  to  see  that  education 
and  religion  must  be  their  foundation  stones.  The  church  and 
the  schoolhouse  were  almost  their  first  care.  The  very  first, 
after  the  protection  of  their  lives.  Great  sacrifices  were  made 
to  build  and  maintain  both.  In  the  building  and  maintenance 
was  their  character  and  strong  religious  faith  also  built  and 
maintained,  almost  as  much  as  in  their  subsequent  use.  As 
greed  and  avarice  grow  with  the  pursuit  of  wealth  for  wealth's 
sake,  so  do  the  intellectual  and  moral  virtues  grow  by  constant 
cultivation. 

The  vital  element  was  the  high  aim  and  purpose  and  the 
steady  courage  with  which  they  sought  to  live  up  to  their 
standard.     Their   church  and    their   school   were  often    heavy 


36  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


financial  burdens,  but  they  carried  them  with  pride.  They 
made  no  appeals  to  others  to  give  them  these  things.  They 
were  their  own,  the  product  of  their  thought,  their  faith  and 
toil. 

To  my  mind,  the  New  England  school  and  church,  so 
established  and  fostered,  small  and  insignificant  in  size  and 
architecture  as  they  were,  compared  with  the  great  temples  of 
old  religions,  whose  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen  and  wondered  at, 
were  still  greater  monuments  to  a  people's  worth  than  those 
labored  structures.  They  had  found  the  law  ;  they  strove  to 
obey  it. 

This,  then,  is  our  heritage,  and  it  is  this  that  we  honor. 
To  you,  still  with  us,  who  received  the  traditions,  institutions 
and  character  of  the  fathers  and  have  preserved  them  for  us,  we 
also  give  the  meed  of  thanks. 

To  those  who,  though  not  of  our  immediate  family  lives, 
joined  with  our  fathers  and  forefathers,  wholeheartedly  and 
sincerely,  in  their  work,  is  also  due  their  share  of  the  thanks 
and  honor. 

What  are  we  to  take  away  from  this  meeting  .''  Are  we  to 
go  away  like  the  prodigal  heir,  who,  having  come  into  his 
fortune,  pays  perfunctory  respect  to  his  deceased  ancestor  and 
turns  away  to  his  pleasures  and  enjoyment  of  his  wealth  .-* 
Shall  we  not  rather  recognize  our  privileges  and  duties  and 
return  to  our  daily  occupations  with  a  renewed  determination  to 
hold  that  which  we  have  which  is  good,  and  in  our  day  and  time 
to  advance  and  improve  ? 

Difficulties  and  dangers  lie  ahead  of  and  around  us.  Today 
we  are  riding  on  the  crest  of  a  wave  of  material  and  financial 
prosperity  almost  appalling  by  its  size  and  swift  flight.  Indus- 
tries of  all  kinds  have  developed  to  proportions  so  vast  that  the 
ordinary  mind  cannot  grasp  them.  Fortunes  such  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  have  been  and  are  accumulating.  Private 
expenditures  of  more  than  princely  prodigality  are  seen  on 
every  side.  Men  speak  of  millions  where  our  forefathers  spoke 
of  pounds  and  shillings. 

All  this  is  well.  I  have  Jio  hatred  for  or  envy  of  wealth. 
All   generations    have  sought    it  ;  future  generations    all    will. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  37 


The  manner  and  purpose  of  the  search  makes  all  the  difference. 
Here,  it  seems  to  me,  we  may  well  stop  and  ponder  over  the 
question  whether  we  are  much,  if  any,  in  advance  of  our  fore- 
bears; whether  with  all  our  wonderful,  glorious  advances  in  all 
other  departments  we  have  at  all  improved  upon  the  standards 
of  moral  excellence  and  civic  virtue.  They  brought  here 
knowledge  of  a  system  of  organized  government,  and  skillfully 
adapted  that  system  to  meet  the  new  conditions.  They 
retained  all  that  was  best  in  the  laws  regulating  all  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  men,  rejecting  everything  that  looked  towards 
sovereignty,  hereditary  and  class  privilege,  and  substituting 
therefor  government  by  the  people,  and  choice  of  rulers. 
Through  all  the  changes  of  and  additions  to  the  laws  made  by 
them  runs  the  idea  of  the  common  weal.  They  had  a  new 
country  to  work  in.  So  have  we.  They  were  a  people  who  had 
to  abandon  their  old  homes  and  start  anew  in  order  to  have 
opportunity  to  develop  a  country  in  which  justice  to  all  should 
be  the  rule,  and  which  should  have  as  its  foundation  morality 
and  education.  The  country  that  they  and  their  kinsmen  in 
other  places  established  has  grown  to  a  proud  position  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  and  is  extending  its  power  for  good  or 
evil.  Controlling,  not  only  within  but  outside  our  borders  ; 
compelled,  if  not  seeking,  to  extend  our  system  of  government ; 
holding  it  up  to  the  world  as  a  system  to  admire  and  to  follow, 
we  of  this  day  and  generation  are  in  a  new  and  strange  country. 
We,  too,  have  an  organized  government  which  has  to  meet  and 
sustain  the  shock  and  strain  of  adaptation  to  new  circumstances 
and  conditions.  We  approve  of  and  have  followed  the  ideas  of 
the  fathers  in  the  management  of  our  own  affairs. 

In  these  times  we  are  a  bit  dazzled  and  dizzy  by  the  elec- 
tric lights  and  the  chinking  of  the  gold  of  a  never-sleeping^ 
hustling,  driving  and  noisy  prosperity.  From  a  cautiously  pro- 
gressive and  prudent  people  we  have  changed  to  one  a  bit  given 
to  over-confidence,  a  little  blatant,  and  tremendously  active  in 
all  material  lines.  Peoples,  like  individuals,  under  such  condi- 
tions, are  apt  to  overlook  those  things  which  are  of  the  heart 
and  conscience.  With  great  wealth  is  apt  to  come  the  secret 
entrance  of  privilege  and  selfishness  and  the  exit  of  due  regard 


38  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


for  others.  In  our  new  world  shall  we  say,  "We  will  make  all 
new,"  or  shall  we  say,  "As  we  give  honor  to  the  fathers  for 
their  virtues  which  we  recognize  as  enduring  qualities,  so  in  our 
day  and  time  will  we  follow  the  old  law  of  justice,  of  mercy,  of 
kindness  and  of  courage  in  adversity  ?" 

That  the  latter  will  be  our  final  choice  I  have  no  doubt. 
Traits  of  manliness,  honesty  and  self-control,  bred  into  a  people 
by  centuries  of  trial,  are  not  lost  speedily.  The  loss  can  only 
come  by  the  process  of  decay,  as  the  qualities  only  came  by 
growth.  Growth  can  be  fostered,  decay  can  be  prevented,  but 
righteous  effort  is  required  in  either  case. 

In  closing  let  me  say  a  word  to  those  who  have  come  to  us 
in  later  years.  You  know  what  we  are  honoring  today.  We 
are  not  claiming  that  our  ancestors  had  all  the  virtue  in  the 
world,  nor  that  we,  their  descendants,  have  received  it  from 
them.  We  only  claim  that  they  had  honorable  qualities,  demon- 
strated and  proved  in  midst  of  difficulties.  We  claim  that  those 
same  qualities  in  any  men,  in  any  time,  will  leave  enduring 
impress.  The  newcomer  of  today  is  presently  the  old  resident, 
and  soon  the  ancestor.  Future  generations  judge  him  at  his 
real  worth.'  It  can  do  no  man  harm  to  think  as  to  what  he 
would  like  his  descendants  to  think  of  him.  Inscribe  your 
names  today  upon  the  rolls  now  open,  of  those  to  whom  the 
future  is  to  give  thanks  and  for  whom  anniversaries  will  be  held. 
Consider  that  we  are  not  bringing  flattery  to  wealth  and  power, 
but  giving  honor  to  good  men,  who  knew  the  right  and,  know- 
ing, dared  maintain.  The  workman's  coat  has  no  terrors  for  us. 
We  ask  you  not  to  come  with  parchments  of  nobility.  We  only 
ask  consciences,  sound  sense,  honest  hearts  and  willing  hands. 
With  these  you  shall  write  your  own  patents  of  nobility,  to  be 
faithfully  registered  and  preserved.  The  fathers  found  the 
laws.  They  lived  by  them,  but  under  difificulties.  We,  in  our 
day  and  time,  know  the  laws,  and  our  opportunities  are  greater. 
If,  later,  it  can  be  said  of  us  that  we  not  only  made  life  easier 
and  more  comfortable,  but  also  extended  the  light  and  blessings 
of  liberty  to  others,  now  struggling,  we  shall  have  honor,  and 
the  fathers  still  more.  Should  we  fail  in  this  and  yield  to  the 
beguilement  of  wealth  and  avarice,  losing  sight  of  the  old  ideas, 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


39 


great  will  be  our  shame. 

In  differoit  form,  but  with  equal  force,  the  temptation  of 
the  fathers  is  before  us,  to  pursue  only  immediate,  material 
good. 

The  need  for  the  exercise  of  the  old  virtues  is  as  great 
now  as  it  was  then.  Dangers  threaten,  but  they  call  not  for 
armies  or  navies  for  their  overcoming.  Study  good  citizenship, 
which  dares  to  stand  and  fight  for  the  right,  and  will  keep  us 
where  no  foe  without  can  harm  us  or  make  us  afraid.  Honesty, 
courage  and  fair-dealing.  These  make  the  law.  We  have  not 
improved  upon  them.  We  may  extend  their  application.  As 
under  them  we  have  prospered  in  the  past,  is  it  not  a  sign  unto 
us  that  under  them  we  shall  continue  to,  and  without  them 
shall  utterly  fail .'' 


40  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Address. 

Hon.    Nathan    Whitman     Littlefield,    Providence,    Rhode 
Island,  Orator  of  the  Day. 


In  these  fair  fields,  hard  by  the  places  where  the  first  inhab- 
itants of  Bridgewater  reared  their  humble  dwellings  and  house 
of  worship,  we  have  met  to  celebrate  the  quarter-millennial 
anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  It  is  an  occasion 
of  unmingled  joy  and  of  gratitude  to  the  God  of  our  fathers 

From  out  whose  hand 

The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  sand, 

that  the  founding  of  this  town  was  committed  to  brave,  saga- 
cious, enterprising,  liberty-loving,  law-abiding  and  God-fearing 
men  and  women  ;  that  the  foundations  of  the  municipal  fabric 
which  they  laid  in  faith  and  hope,  and  cemented  with  their  tears 
and  blood,  have  endured  firm  and  unshaken  even  unto  the 
twelfth  generation  of  their  children  ;  that  the  superstructure  of 
civil  and  religious  institutions  commenced  by  them  has  been 
raised  and  expanded  into  a  vast  fabric  more  fair  and  imposing 
than,  perhaps,  even  they  with  their  prophetic  vision  foresaw  ; 
that  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  the  right  of  local  self-govern- 
ment which  they  established  here  still  remain  unimpaired,  the 
richest  possession  of  those  who  now  occupy  the  land  ;  that 
neither  the  ferocity  of  Indian  foes,  nor  French  and  Spanish 
ambitions,  nor  the  unnatural  malice  of  the  rulers  of  the  mother 
country  prevailed  against  the  steadfast  courage  and  patriotism 
of  those  early  settlers  and  their  descendants  in  this  and  other 
New  England  towns  ;  that  the  sparsely  settled  town  prospered 
and  flourished  and  has  become  four  populous  and  prosperous 
municipalities,  and  strangers  from  foreign  lands  attracted  by  the 
bright  shining  of  the  torch  of  liberty  first  lighted  in  this  land, 
have  flocked  to  these  shores  and  to  this  region,  that  the  fierce 
religious  animosities  which  prevailed  throughout  Christendom 
in  those  early  days  have  been  supplanted  by  mutual  respect  and 
charity. 


z-^^m^^^a^miBmBS^T^m''r^gi'r7^''''^s^-  - 


^ 


_J 


Hon.   Nathan  W.   Littlefield,   Orator  of  theJDay. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  41 


Two  questions  naturally  rise  in  the  mind  on  such  an  occa- 
sion :  Who  were  the  founders  of  the  town,  and  what  led  them 
to  this  place  ? 

The  establishment  of  English  colonies  on  the  shores  of  the 
new  world  marked  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  civilization.  The 
exodus  of  the  pilgrims  from  England  to  Holland  and  from 
Holland  to  Plymouth  in  America,  was  not  sporadic  nor  fortui- 
tous. It  was  a  link,  and  a  most  important  one,  in  a  chain  of 
events  reaching  far  back  into  the  past  and  marking  the  progress 
of  humanity  in  its  strivings  for  intellectual,  religious  and 
political  freedom. 

It  is  inapossible  to  understand  the  full  significance  of  the 
movement  which  began  in  England  and  terminated  on  these 
shores,  without  a  survey  of  the  causes  which  produced  and 
impelled  it. 

It  is  doubtful  if  men  who  were  engaged  in  the  movement 
comprehended  all  that  it  meant  to  them  and  to  mankind,  though 
they  themselves  were  actuated  by  no  sordid  motives  but  by 
ambitions  as  pure  and  holy  as  ever  stirred  in  the  human  breast, 
and  by  hopes  and  purposes  far  greater  than  the  immediate  and 
tangible  result  of  their  enterprise.  They  dreamed  of  a  state 
wherein  should  dwell  personal  righteousness,  as  well  as  personal 
freedom,  of  a  church  purified  and  freed  from  the  vain  supersti- 
tions and  errors  which  had  gathered  about  the  churches  of  the 
old  world.  But  we,  standing  on  the  heights  to  which  they 
aspired,  and  catching 

"The  deep  pulsations  of  the  world, 
.Ionian  music  measuring  out  the  Steps  of 

Time,  the  Shocks  of  Chance, 
The  blows  of  Death." 

can  perceive  that  those  pilgrims  were  following  the  path  of  des- 
tiny, that  they  were  transferring  from  Europe  to  America  the 
struggle  of  the  centuries  between  that  theory  of  government  in 
church  and  state  which  holds  that  the  head  of  each  is  the  source 
of  all  authority  therein,  and  that  which  holds  that  all  govern- 
ment is  of  the  people,  for  the  people,  by  the  people  ;  in  other 
words,  between  absolutism  and  democracy. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  condition 
of  Europe  at  the  end  of  the   i6th  and  beginning  of  the   17th 


42  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


centuries,  and  of  the  events  which  preceded  and  marked  that 
epoch,  will  reveal  the  causes  which  produced  the  remarkable 
band  of  men  and  women  who  pointed  out  the  westward  course 
of  liberty  as  well  as  of  empire  in  the  wilderness.  It  will  afford 
a  dark  background  against  which  the  shining  virtues  and 
characters  of  the  pilgrims  stand  forth  with  vividness. 

The  barbarian  hordes  which  from  the  north  and  east  swept 
in  successive  waves  over  the  Roman  empire,  gradually  dissolved 
the  political  bonds  which  for  centuries  held  together  the  subject 
races  and  tribes  of  that  vast  empire  in  one  system  of  govern- 
ment, at  length  wrought  its  downfall. 

Under  Roman  rule  national  life  and  spirit  were  gradually 
extinguished  in  the  subject  provinces.  Consequently  when  that 
rule  was  over-thrown  confusion  worse  confounded  prevailed. 
All  Europe  was  divided  into  a  vast  number  of  petty  princi- 
palities, mutually  hostile  and  belligerent.  The  church  was  the 
only  bond  which  seemed  capable  of  holding  human  society 
together.  In  this  chaos  of  barbarism,  ignorance  and  super- 
stition, the  light  of  civilization  was  almost  extinguished.  The 
art  of  war  alone  flourished,  all  other  arts  were  lost  and  well-nigh 
forgotten.  The  introduction  of  feudalism  completed  the  work 
of  destroying  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  masses  and  created 
a  privileged  and  ruling  class. 

In  England  the  Norman  conquest  did  two  things  of  great 
value  and  importance  which  greatly  mitigated  the  evils  of  feudal 
rule  which  it  introduced.  It  gradually  welded  together  the 
warring  Teutonic  tribes  into  a  nation,  and  it  created  in  that 
country,  out  of  the  chief  men  of  the  Saxons,  Angles  and  Danes, 
the  finest  middle  class  which  the  world  has  ever  seen.  These 
were  the  men  who  opposed  their  somewhat  dull  but  sturdy  and 
powerful  intellects  to  the  haughty,  keen  aggressive  Norman  and 
by  patient  endurance  won  for  themselves  and  for  their  posterity 
the  liberties  which  England  and  America  now  enjoy.  It  was  to 
this  class  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  belonged.  There  is  probably 
not  a  name  of  Norman  origin  in  the  list  of  Mayflower  passen- 
gers, and  not  one  among  the  names  of  the  first  settlers  of 
Bridgewater. 

The  diffusion  of  knowledge  which  followed  the  discovery  of 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  43 


the  art  of  printing,  about  the  middle  of  the  15th  century,  gave  a 
mighty  impulse  to  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  The 
printing  press  in  the  hands  of  the  advocates  of  liberty  proved  a 
powerful  engine  for  promoting  the  spread  of  liberal  ideas.  In 
the  end  it  triumphed  over  the  rack  and  scaffold  and  all  the 
devilish  enginery  of  torture,  the  sight  of  which  now  exhibited 
in  the  museums  and  unused  dungeons  of  Europe  fills  the  soul 
with  horror  and  pity,  not  only  for  the  men  who  suffered  by,  but 
also  for  the  men  who  used,  such  human  instruments  of  oppres- 
sion. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  discovery  of  the  art  of  printing 
happened  an  event  in  a  distant  quarter  of  the  world  which 
indirectly  gave  the  death  blow  to  decaying  feudalism  in 
Europe  and  aroused  the  nations  from  drowsy  mediev.alism  to 
the  keen,  vigorous  life  of  modern  times.  It  added  tenfold 
power  to  the  printing  press  as  a  means  of  human  enlightenment- 
The  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks  in  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  drove  to  western  Europe  and  especially  to 
Italy  a  multitude  of  scholars  and  artists  who,  congregated  in 
that  remote  metropolis,  the  gateway  of  the  east  and  west,  had 
preserved  Greek  philosophy,  learning  and  art  which  had  made 
Rome  illustrious  but  which  had  been  well  nigh  blotted  out  by 
the  overwhelming  disasters  of  the  early  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  A  great  revival  of  learning  at  once  sprang  up.  Popes, 
kings  and  princes  like  the  Medici  at  Florence,  eagerly  welcomed 
the  new  movement  and  lent  it  their  powerful  aid,  little  recking 
that  they  were  developing  forces  that  would  soon  shake  their 
thrones  and  ultimately  destroy  absolutism  in  church  and  state. 

The  publication  at  Nuremberg,  about  the  end  of  the  same 
century,  of  Copernicus'  work,  "The  Revolution  of  the  Heavenly 
Bodies,"  followed  by  the  teaching  of  Bruno  and  the  discoveries 
of  Gallileo  in  the  same  field,  completely  revolutionized  men's 
ideas  of  the  nature  of  the  universe  and  greatly  enlarged  the 
field  of  human  knowledge.  Moreover,  the  stout  and  prolonged 
resistance  which  the  church  made  to  the  new  astronomy 
whereby  the  earth  was  proved  not  to  be  the  center  of  the 
universe,  and  to  be  round  and  to  rotate  upon  its  axis,  weakened 
its  hold  upon  intelligent    men  and  strengthened    the  spirit  of 


44  a50TH    ANNIVERSARY 


free  inquiry. 

The  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus  and  the  exploration 
of  its  coasts  by  Americus  Vespucci,  the  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe  by  Magellan  and  the  voyages  of  the  Cabots,  revealing  a 
new  world  as  a  field  for  exploration  and  possession,  powerfully 
stimulated  human  thought  and  enterprise. 

In  no  part  of  the  world  did  the  great  movement  for  the 
intellectual  emancipation  of  mankind  set  in  motion  and  impelled 
by  these  epoch-making  events,  more  powerfully  affect  the 
political,  social  and  religious  life  of  the  people  than  in  England. 
The  new  learning  introduced  into  England  from  Italy  by  John 
Colet  and  others  greatly  flourished.  Oxford  became  the  rival 
of  Padua  and  Bologna.  The  cause  of  liberal  learning  was 
warmly  espoused  and  supported  by  Warham,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  Primate  of  England,  of  whom  Greene  says,  "Few 
men  realized  so  thoroughly  as  Warham,  the  new  conception  of 
an  intellectual  and  moral  equality  before  which  the  old  social 
distinctions  of  the  world  were  to  vanish  away." 

The  expansion  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  for  a  few  years 
was  rapid  and  extensive.  It  is  said  that  during  the  last  thirty 
years  of  the  fifteenth  century  ten  thousand  editions  of  books 
and  pamphlets  were  published  throughout  Europe. 

But  the  fair  dawn  of  this  auspicious  day  was  soon  overcast 
with  clouds.  Others  besides  Warham  were  not  long  in  discov- 
ering the  tendencies  of  the  Renaissance.  The  spirit  of  personal 
independence  and  the  assertion  of  the  right  of  the  individual  to 
exercise  his  judgment  upon  questions  of  church  and  state  which 
had  begun  to  appear  did  not  long  escape  the  notice  of  those 
whose  power  was  dependent  upon  a  totally  different  conception 
of  the  rights  of  the  people.  Then  began  the  mighty  conflict 
which  for  the  greater  part  of  two  centuries  made  all  Europe  an 
armed  camp  and  drenched  the  land  with  rivers  of  blood.  All 
the  resources  of  powers  long  entrenched  in  law  and  custom 
were  brought  to  bear  to  crush  the  new  and,  to  them,  dangerous 
ideas.  To  that  end  massacres,  slaughters,  proscriptions  assassi- 
nations, tortures  and  all  the  methods  which  cunning  and  cruelty 
could  devise  were  employed.      But  all  in  vain. 

In  vain  did  Catherine  de  Medici  prevail  upon  her  weak  son 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  45 


to  issue  the  order  which  has  made  St.  Bartholomew's  day  a  day 
of  horror  and  execration. 

In  vain  did  Charles  V  and  his  son,  Philip  II,  of  Spain,  in 
a  mighty  effort  to  establish  the  supremacy  of  absolutism 
throughout  Europe,  summon  to  their  cause  all  their  allies  and 
drain  their  treasury  in  long  wars  against  Holland  and  Germany. 

In  vain  did  Philip,  when  baffled  and  defeated,  procure  the 
assassination  of  William  of  Nassau,  the  foremost  military  com- 
mander, and  most  liberal  minded  statesman  of  his  day,  an 
earlier  Washington,  who,  like  him,  was  called  the  father  of  his 
country. 

In  vain  did  the  same  monarch  for  years  tax  to  the  utmost 
resources  of  his  realm  in  building  and  equipping  the  Great 
Armada  and  launching  it  against  England,  whose  aid  and 
support  was  preserving  the  existence  of  the  Dutch  nation. 

But  no,  not  in  vain  were  the  death  and  sufferings  of  the 
martyrs  of  liberty  during  those  weary  years  of  horror;  not  in 
vain  did  William  of  Nassau  cut  the  dykes  and  cover  his  country 
with  a  new  deluge  that  he  might  sail  to  the  relief  of  Leyden  ; 
not  in  vain  was  the  stubborn  and  desperate  resistance  of  the 
Dutch  ;  not  in  vain  did  Philip  exhaust  his  resources  in  his 
gigantic  attempt  to  crush  stout  hearted  Elizabeth  and  destroy 
the  liberties  of  her  people. 

The  cause  of  humanity  hung  on  the  issuse  of  that  conflict. 
The  trium])h  of  the  champions  of  liberty  was  our  triumph. 

The  crippling  of  the  Spanish  empire  in  that  conflict 
presaged  its  downfall  as  a  world  power  and  cleared  the  way  for 
English  colonists  on  American  shores.  It  taught  England  the 
momentous  lesson  also  that  her  safety  and  her  empire  lay  in  her 
navy.  The  raids  of  Sir  Francis  Drake  upon  the  Spanish 
possessions  in  America  demonstrated  the  weakness  of  Spain 
and  the  superiority  of  British  ships  and  seamen.  Thenceforth 
English  colonists  had  less  cause  to  fear  the  fate  of  the  Huguenot 
colony  in  Florida  slaughtered  by  Spaniards. 

But  although  a  great  contest  for  liberty  had  been  won,  the 
conflict  was  by  no  means  ended.  The  events  of  the  17th 
century,  though  enacted  on  a  smaller  stage,  were  no  less  impor- 
tant   than    those    preceeding    it.     No    one  has    described    this 


46  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


conflict  more  fairly  than  the  late  John  Fiske,  who  says  :  "It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  in  the  17th  century  the  entire  political 
future  of  mankind  was  staked  upon  the  questions  which  were 
at  issue  in  England.  To  keep  the  sacred  flame  of  liberty  alive 
required  such  a  concurrence  of  conditions  that  had  our  fore- 
fathers then  succumbed  in  the  strife,  it,  is  hard  to  imagine  how 
or  where  the  failure  could  have  been  repaired." 

The  most  important  of  those  conditions  as  we  can  now 
clearly  perceive,  was  the  enlistment  of  the  religious  sentiments 
of  the  people  on  the  side  of  freedom. 

When  Henry  the  VIII  threw  off  all  allegiance  to  the 
Church  of  Rome  and  established  the  Church  of  England,  he 
succeeded  not  by  reason  of  his  personal  influence  which  was 
then  not  great,  but  because  the  English  people  were  ready  for 
the  change  ;  because  the  doctrines  which  Wickliffe  long  before 
had  taught  and  disseminated  throughout  England  by  his  lay 
preachers  still  lived  in  the  minds  of  the  common  people,  and 
because  they  were  unwilling  to  submit  to  any  rule,  civil  or 
ecclesiastical,  which  would  deprive  them  of  their  ancient  rights 
and  liberties  won  with  infinite  effort  from  successive  kings  and 
embodied  in  Magna  Charta  and  other  charters,  the  parliament 
and  the  statutes  of  praemunire  which  forbade  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  any  earthly  authority  to  be  higher  than  the  English 
crown. 

It  was  certainly  most  unfortunate  and  deplorable  that 
religious  strife  was  added  to  civil  dissensions,  but  the  facts  need 
not  be  passed  over  in  silence,  especially  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  Catholic  colonists  of  Maryland  who  also  suffered  perse- 
cution by  the  Church  of  England,  equalled,  if  they  did  not 
surpass,  the  Protestants  of  Plymouth  in  religious  toleration.  It 
was  Protestantism  mainly  adopted  by  the  middle  classes  which 
upheld  the  throne  of  Henry  VIII  and  Elizabeth  against  foreign 
assaults  and  in  the  next  century  overthrew  the  throne  of 
Charles  I  and  established  representative  and  constitutional 
government  on  broad  and  firm  foundations  which  have  never 
since  been  shaken. 

Of  all  Protestants  the  most  advanced  in  their  ideas  of 
political  and  religious  liberty  were  the  Separatists,  or  as  they 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  47 


were  called  by  their  enemies,  the  Brownists,  though  they  them- 
selves earnestly  repudiated  the  name.  The  spiritual  lineage  of 
this  folk  has  been  traced  back  to  Wickliffe.  His  doctrines  were 
carried  to  their  logical  conclusions  by  them.  They  were  the 
Puritans  of  the  Puritans.  Yet  when  the  Church  of  England  in 
its  turn  became  the  opponent  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and 
persecuted  even  to  the  death  those  who  advocated  the  very 
principles  which  gave  birth  to  that  church,  the  Puritans  within 
that  church  stood  aloof  and  saw  unmoved  Elizabeth  and  James 
mercilessly  persecute  and  harry  the  independents  or  Separatists 
and  drive  them  from  their  homes  in  England  which  they  loved 
so  well.  But  that  band  of  pilgrims  who  came  from  Scrooby 
and  Gainsborough  to  Boston  in  a  vain  attempt  to  take  ship  for 
Holland,  whose  leaders  were  imprisoned  in  the  narrow  cells  of 
the  gaol  beneath  the  ancient  guildhall,  at  least  suggested,  if  they 
did  not  inspire,  the  Puritan  emigration  from  that  city  to  the 
Boston  of  New  England  about  twenty-five  years  later.  All 
things  conspired  to  compel  the  exodus  of  the  Pilgrims  from 
England.  Cast  out  from  their  homeland,  they  knew  that  an 
asylum  awaited  them  across  the  narrow  sea  to  the  south. 
Already  many  Englishmen  of  the  same  faith  had  sought  refuge 
in  that  land  of  freedom.  At  least  two  Separatist  congregations 
had  been  formed  in  Amsterdam,  one  of  which  was  composed  of 
men  from  the  same  part  of  England. 

Of  their  repeated  and  finally  successful  attempts  to  escape 
from  their  native  country,  of  their  stay  in  Holland,  for  a  short 
time  in  Amsterdam,  then  for  eleven  years  in  Leyden,  of  their 
toils  and  privations,  of  their  industry,  integrity  and  orderly 
conduct  whereby  they  won  the  respect  of  the  Hollanders,  of  the 
high  honor  to  which  some  of  them  like  John  Robinson  and 
William  Brewster  attained,  of  how  they  dwelt  together  in 
harmony  and  mutual  helpfulness,  so  that  strangers  of  high 
degree  like  Edward  Winslow  and  Miles  Standish  were  drawn  to 
them,  the  limitations  of  this  address  do  not  permit  a  full  recital. 

Though  they  had  experienced  a  hearty  welcome  and  kind 
treatment  by  the  people  of  Leyden,  yet  there  were  many 
considerations  which  impelled  them  to  depart.  They  were 
Englishmen  and  did  not  like  the  prospect  of  being  absorbed  by 


48  250TH   ANNIVERSARY 


foreign  people.  The  conditions  of  life  there  were  hard.  Their 
unaccustomed  occupations  bore  hard  upon  them,  especially  upon 
the  young  who  were  permaturely  aged  thereby.  Some  of  the 
young  people  were  drifting  away  and  enlisting  in  the  Dutch 
army  and  navy  and  others  were  in  danger  of  being  corrupted  by 
the  loose  manner  of  their  neighbors.  The  twelve  years'  truce  of 
Holland  with  Spain  was  drawing  near  its  expiration  and  already 
Prince  Maurice  was  preparing  his  armies  for  a  renewal  of  the 
conflict.  Religious  strive,  a  thing  hateful  to  the  Pilgrims,  was 
rife  among  the  Dutch  people.  The  hope  of  returning  to 
England  was  blasted  by  the  fatuous  policy  of  King  James  I, 
who  was  striving  to  turn  back  the  hands  of  the  clock  of  human 
progress  and  restore  the  unlimited  sovereignty  of  the  throne. 
Moreover  a  motive  far  transcending  the  desire  for  mere  material 
betterment,  inspired  them  with  a  high  and  holy  ambition. 
Bradford  in  "Showing  ye  reasons  and  causes  of  their  removal," 
says,  "Lastly  (and  what  was  not  least)  a  great  hope  and  zeal 
they  had  of  laying  some  good  foundation,  or  at  least  to  make 
some  way  thereunto,  for  the  propagating  and  advancing  ye 
gospel  of  ye  kingdom  of  Christ  in  those  remote  parts  of  the 
world  ;  yea,  though  they  should  be  but  even  as  stepping-stones 
unto  others  for  ye  performing  of  so  great  a  work." 

Where  lay  the  land  in  which  their  great  design  could  be 
executed.?  Many  and  prolonged  were  the  dicussions  in  which 
that  question  was  agitated. 

About  fifty  years  earlier  a  scheme  for  deporting  Puritan 
Separatists  to  Ireland  was  seriously  discussed  by  the  ministry 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  is  shown  by  a  state  paper  dated  1572, 
brought  to  light  in  recent  year.  That  paper  states  that  "they 
are  a  great  people  and  daily  increasing,  consisting  of  all  degrees 
from  the  nobility  to  the  least,"  and  that  they  numbered  3,000, 
far  too  low  an  estimate.  But  at  the  time  when  the  emigration 
from  Holland  was  being  planned,  it  was  too  late  to  find  a  place 
in  Ireland  or  elsewhere  in  Europe  for  planting  a  colony. 

America  seemed  to  invite  them  with  one  hand  and  to  repel 
them  with  the  others.  Glowing  accounts  had  been  brought  to 
England  by  Raleigh  and  others  of  the  immense  resources  of 
that  country,     Guiana  he  had  described  as  a  veritable  Eldorado. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  49 


But  in  the  south  the  cruel  Spaniard  was  still  predominant 
and  tropical  diseases  threatened  them.  The  experiences  of 
Gosnold  in  Buzzards  Bay  and  of  Sir  John  Popham's  colony  on 
the  Kennebec,  had  caused  New  England  to  be  regarded  as 
uninhabitable  by  Europeans. 

The  English  settlement  at  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  was 
maintaining  a  precarious  existence. 

The  disastrous  attempt  of  Francis  Blackwell,  sent  out  from 
Amsterdam  to  plant  a  colony  on  Delaware  Bay,  was  fresh  in 
their  minds.  Bradford  says  of  it,  "Heavy  news  it  is,  and  I 
would  be  glad  to  hear  how  far  it  will  discourage."  Later  he 
writes  that  instead  of  causing  discouragement  it  made  them 
resolve  to  "amend  that  wherein  we  had  failed."  The  pronoun 
"we"  shows  that  the  Leyden  community  was  interested  in  some 
way  in  the  success  of  that  expedition. 

The  long  and  vexatious  negotiations  which  were  carried  on 
between  their  representatives  and  the  ministers  of  King  James 
regarding  their  ecclesiastical  rights  in  America  taxed  their 
patience  to  the  utmost.  Earnestly,  but  in  vain,  they  pleaded 
for  some  guaranty  which  would  protect  them  in  the  exercise  of 
that  liberty  of  conscience  and  form  of  worship  which  they,  in 
common  with  the  Reformed  churches  in  Holland,  enjoyed.  All 
that  they  could  hope  for  was  that  the  king,  in  his  desire  to 
gain  a  permanent  foothold  in  the  new  world,  would  conveniently 
fail  to  notice  things  oone  there  which  he  would  not  tolerate  in 
England. 

Meanwhile  the  Dutch  were  making  overtures  and  offering 
large  inducements  to  them  to  join  their  colony  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson.  On  the  other  hand,  the  London  Adventurers, 
who,  in  the  language  of  a  later  day,  financed  the  expedition, 
were  exacting  hard  terms  and  conditions  by  which  they  would 
receive  the  lion's  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the  industry  of  the 
colonists. 

But  they  were  not  cast  down  by  these  discouragements. 
Their  pastor,  Robinson,  wrote  these  never-to-be  forgotten 
words  :  "All  great  and  honorable  actions  are  accompanied  with 
great  difficulties  and  must  be  both  enterprised  and  overcome 
with  answerable  courages." 


^O  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


By  the  discussion  of  the  important  and  perplexing  questions 
which  arose  from  those  circumstances  and  the  decision  of  them, 
the  Pilgrims  were  educated  and  trained  for  their  future  life  in 
America.  What  opportunities  were  afforded  for  dissension  and 
division  in  settling  those  questions  !  Yet  what  patience,  for- 
bearance and  self-restraint,  virtues  most  necessary  in  a  republic, 
they  practiced ! 

Every  question  was  decided  by  the  will  of  the  majority. 

Thus  after  many  supplications  to  Almighty  God  for  guid- 
ance, they  decided  that  the  new  colony  should  be  planted  on 
Delaware  Bay  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Virginia  company, 
and  they  prepared  to  depart,  but  not  all,  for  a  sifting  of  the 
people  already  sifted  out  as  the  choicest  wheat  of  England,  was 
necessary.  It  was  deemed  prudent  for  a  part  to  go  and  the  rest 
to  remain  to  receive  again  those  departing  if  the  expedition 
proved  unsuccessful.  Only  the  young  and  thd  strongest  of  the 
company  sailed  in  the  little  Speedwell  from  Uelfthaven  on  the 
22d  day  of  July,  1620,  to  meet  the  Mayflower  at  Southampton. 

There  was  another  sifting  at  Plymouth  when  the  Mayflower 
was  about  to  sail  for  the  third  time  for  these  shores,  the 
Speedwell  having  been  abandoned  as  unseaworthy. 

Then  after  having  experienced  the  dangers  and  discomforts 
of  the  deep,  an  opportunity  was  offered  to  the  faint-hearted  to 
return  to  London.  But  only  eighteen  remained  and  the  rest 
numbering  one  hundred  and  two  passengers,  crowded  upon  the 
Mayflower,  bade  a  final  farewell  to  England  on  September  6. 

Thus  by  heart-breaking  delays  was  their  departure  deferred 
until  the  time  when 

"Descends  on  the  Atlantic 
The  gigantic 
Storm  wind  of  the  equinox." 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  resolution  and  fortitude  of  the 
men  and  women  who  held  steadfastly  to  their  purpose  in  the 
face  of  such  appalling  discouragements  and  dangers  .-* 

The  voyage  of  that  frail  vessel  freighted  with  the  hopes  of 
humanity  over  the  vast  and  furious  ocean,  has  no  parallel  in 
history.  When  on  the  9th  of  November  they  sighted  land  it 
was  the  sand  hills  of  Cape  Qod  which  they  desgried,  and  not  the 
shores  of  Delaware  Bay, 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  51 


It  was  shrewdly  suspected  by  their  leaders  that  the  captain 
of  the  Mayflower  had  been  bribed  by  the  Dutch  to  land  the 
company  as  far  away  as  possible  from  Manhattan,  where  they 
intended  to  plant  a  colony.  But  whether  it  was  the  craft  of 
man  or  the  fury  of  the  sea  which  brought  them  to  these  shores, 
we  now  know  that  only  in  this  region  could  they  have  found  a 
place  prepared  tor  their  habitation  by  the  widespread  destruc- 
tion of  the  native  tribes  by  disease ;  that  only  here  could  they 
have  maintained  themselves  against  the  aggression  of  rival 
French  and  Dutch  colonies  and  above  all  that  only  by  settling 
at  Plymouth  without  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Virginia  company 
would  they  have  been  left  free  to  work  out  a  scheme  of  self- 
government. 

The  compact  signed  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  justly 
called  the  first  written  constitution,  was  made  necessary  by  the 
fact  of  their  landing  where  they  did. 

But  it  was  only  wise  and  intelligent  and  daring  men  who  could 
thus  without  premeditation  set  up  a  government  of  their  own. 

Many  adventurous  spirits  had  before  them  braved  the 
terrors  of  the  sea  and  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness ; 

"But  bolder  they  who  first  offcast 
Their  moorings  to  the  comfortable  past, 
And  ventured  chartless  on  the  sea 
Of  storm  engendering  liberty." 

There  was  another  sad  and  terrible  sifting  of  the  people 
during  that  first  winter,  when  one-half  of  their  number  perished. 

In  imagination  picture  that  scene  when,  just  before  the 
return  of  the  Mayflower,  the  survivors  met  in  solemn  assembly, 
and  the  question  being  put  who  desired  to  return  to  England, 
no  one  responded. 

Such  were  the  men  who  founded  Plymouth  and  also 
Bridgewater.  From  time  to  time  their  comrades  left  behind  in 
Leyden  came  and  rejoined  them. 

Exactly  a  year  after  their  arrival  came  the  Fortune  with 
thirty-flve  passengers,  two  years  later  the  ship  Ann  and  pinnace 
Little  James  appeared,  bringing  one  hundred  or  more  recruits, 
including  the  wives  and  children  of  several  of  the  first  settlers. 
These  shared  with  those  who  came  in  the  Mayflower  the  honor 
of  the  title  of  firstcomers  or  Forefathers. 


52  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Among  them  were  several  men  who  proved  valuable  addi- 
tions to  the  colony,  and  later  were  among  the  first  settlers  of 
Bridgewater.  In  1629  a  company  of  thirty-five  from  Leyden 
arrived,  and  in  1630  another  small  company. 

But  with  these  additions  the  colony  only  numbered  three 
hundred  souls.  Nearly  all  the  first  inhabitants  of  Bridgewater 
were  among  these  immigrants. 

We  have  seen  how  these  men  developed  under  the  hard 
conditions  of  their  life  in  England  and  Holland.  What  traits 
of  character  did  they  display  in  the  different  but  equally  trying 
circumstances  of  their  life  in  Plymouth  and  Bridgewater  ? 

Their  boundless  patience  and  forbearance  under  the  cruel 
reproaches  of  the  London  Adventurers,  because  they  did  not 
when  on  the  verge  of  starvation  make  larger  returns  of  merchan- 
dise to  them,  are  almost  incredible. 

Their  gentle  and  pathetic,  yet  manly,  remonstrances  against 
groundless  accusations  of  laziness  and  dishonesty,  fill  our  hearts 
with  pity  and  admiration. 

Their  generosity  and  magnanimity,  shown  even  to  their 
enemies  when  stranded  on  their  shores  and  to  those  who  had 
no  claim  upon  them,  to  the  extent  of  iraproverishing  themselves 
and  endangering  their  own  lives,  were  unlimited.. 

Their  exalted  sense  of  honor  and  of  brotherly  love  were 
displayed  in  assuming  and  paying  the  expenses  amounting  to 
several  thousand  dollars  of  their  friends  who  came  to  them  from 
Leyden. 

Their  industry  and  thrift  are  proved  by  the  fact  that  at  the 
end  of  seven  years  from  their  arrival  they  purchased  the  interest 
of  their  London  partners,  and  by  the  year  1636,  had  paid  every 
farthing  of  the  indebtedness  thus  incurred. 

Their  scrupulous  honesty  was  shown  in  meeting  obligations 
contracted  without  authority,  and  perhaps  dishonestly,  by  their 
agents  in  England. 

Their  energy  and  enterprise  were  displayed  in  subduing 
the  wilderness  around  them  and  especially  in  establishing 
fishing  stations  and  trading  posts  at  Cape  Ann  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Kennebec,  and  at  Windsor  on  the  Connecticut. 

The  justice  and  self-restraint  were  conspicuous,  not  only  in 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  53 


the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  but  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  native  tribes,  those  capricious,  suspicious  and  fickle 
children  of  nature,  whose  confidence  they  won. 

Their  moderation  and  sound  judgment  are  apparent  in  their 
treatment  of  Roger  Williams  who,  after  his  departure  from 
them,  was  ever  their  firm  friend,  and  by  his  influence  with  the 
Narragansetts  saved  the  colony  from  destruction,  and  especially 
i)i  their  treatment  of  Quakers  and  persons  accused  of  witch- 
craft, not  one  of  whom  was  executed  within  the  limits  of  the 
Old  Colony. 

Where  in  the  world  were  these  illustrious  qualities  ever 
more  fully  or  consistently  displayed  than  by  those  men  whose 
great  acts  and  exalted  character  we  this  day  celebrate  ? 

There  are  some  who  try  to  disparage  the  motives  and 
belittle  the  achievements  of  the  pilgrim  fathers. 

They  assert  that  they  were  only  common  people,  rude, 
illiterate,  peasants,  who  by  some  good  fortune,  under  wise 
leadership,  builded  far  better  than  they  knew.  But  since 
when  was  it  that  ignorance  and  stupidity  produced  orderly  civil 
government,  enacted  wise  and  salutary  laws,  and  maintained 
sound  domestic  and  foreign  policies  .-*  In  a  sense  they  were 
common  people,  but  they  were  the  most  uncommon-  common 
people  of  the  17th  or  any  other  century. 

In  the  matter  of  education,  however,  they  easily  sustain 
comparison  with  the  inhabitants  of  England  or  any  of  her 
colonies.  There  were  among  them  few  illiterates,  and  the 
proportion  of  highly  educated  men  was  much  larger  than  it  is 
in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  today  or  in  any  other 
state  of  the  Union.  Above  all,  they  had  wisdom  and  sound 
understanding,  which  mere  learning  does  not  always  bestow. 

Others  have  regarded  them  as  a  band  of  zealous,  religious 
sectaries,  narrow  and  bigoted  in  their  views,  whose  religious 
doctrines  have  become  obsolete  and  whose  achievements  arc  of 
little  worth.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth,  and  he 
has  read  history  to  little  purpose,  if  at  all,  who  has  not  learned 
that  civil  liberty  and  the  right  of  self-government  were  inextri- 
cably involved  in  the  struggle  for  religious  freedom,  in  which 
they  were  engaged. 


54  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


John  Fiske  truly  observes  :  "Much  as  he  (the  Puritan) 
loved  self-government  he  never  would  have  been  so  swift  to 
detect,  and  so  stubborn  to  resist,  the  slightest  encroachment  on 
the  part  of  the  crown,  had  not  the  loss  of  self-government 
involved  the  imminent  danger  that  the  ark  of  the  Lord  might 
be  abandoned  to  the  worshippers  of  Dagon." 

Hume,  who  certainly  cannot  be  accused  of  partiality  toward 
any  form  of  religion,  thus  writes  of  England  under  the  Stuarts  : 
"So  absolute  indeed  was  the  authority  of  the  crown  that  the 
precious  spark  of  liberty  had  been  kindled  and  was  preserved 
by  the  Puritans  alone,  and  it  was  to  this  sect  that  England  owes 
the  whole  freedom  of  their  constitution." 

Greene,  the  English  historian,  says,  "From  the  moment  of 
their  establishment  the  eyes  of  English  Puritans  were  fixed  on 
the  little  Puritan  colony  in  North  America." 

A  controversial  literature  of  considerable  size  sprang  up, 
soon  after  the  founding  of  the  colony,  in  which  Winslow  and 
Bradford  and  others  successfully  maintained  the  cause  of  the 
colony  against  the  attacks  of  its  enemies. 

Thus  and  in  other  ways  Englishmen  were  kept  fully 
informed  of  the  doings  of  their  countrymen  in  Plymouth.  They 
beheld  a  company  of  free  men  exercising  self-government  under 
a  constitution  of  their  own  making,  levying  taxes,  enacting 
laws,  punishing  offenses,  even  of  a  capital  nature,  making 
treaties  with  neighboring  tribes  and  colonies,  and  finally  estab- 
lishing courts  and  a  representative  assembly.  Plymouth  colony 
had  ceased  to  be  an  experiment,  it  was  an  assured  success. 

Then  followed  that  remarkable  emigration  from  England 
which  continued  from  1630  to  1640,  resulting  in  the  settlement 
of  Boston,  New  Haven  and  other  New  England  towns. 

The  effect  upon  the  fortunes  of  Plymouth  colony  was 
great.  The  existence  of  the  large  and  vigorous  colony  on  the 
North  insured  its  safety  and  greatly  promoted  its  growth  and 
prosperity. 

Thus  Scituate,  the  second  town  of  the  colony,  was  peopled 
by  the  men  of  Kent ;  Taunton,  the  fourth  town,  was  settled  by 
immigrants  from  England  and  Wales  who  came  by  way  of 
Boston  ;  Barnstable,  the  fifth  town,  was  occupied  by  people  who 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  55 


came  from  Scituate  ;  Sandwich  and  Yarmouth,  the  sixth  and 
seventh  towns,  were  settled  by  an  overflow  of  people  from 
Lynn. 

Very  few  of  the  original  inhabitants  of  Plymouth  went  to 
those  towns. 

Duxbury,  the  third  town  to  be  incorporated,  but  the  second 
in  order  of  settlement,  was  peopled  wholly  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Plymouth. 

Among  the  first  settlers  of  that  town  were  several  of  the 
leading  men  of  Plymouth  colony,  William  Brewster's  two  sons, 
Love  and  Jonathan,  Miles  Standish,  John  Alden,  Samuel  Eaton, 
Constant  Southworth,  Samuel  Nash,  George  Soule,  William 
Bassett,  Experience  Mitchell,  Henry  Sampson,  William  Collier 
and  others.      William  Brewster  himself  came  later. 

The  lands  around  Cut  or  Green  river  were  held  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Duxbury,  under  grants  of  the  court  as  a  planta- 
tion. But  after  Edward  Winslow  settled  there,  a  new  town  was 
incorporated  in  1640,  by  the  name  of  Rexham,  afterwards 
changed  to  Marshfield. 

When  the  inhabitants  of  Duxbury,  by  the  incorporation  of 
Marshfield,  were  thus  deprived  of  the  productive  and  extensive 
meadows  which  gave  the  name  to  that  town,  they  felt  aggrieved 
and  began  to  look  about  for  other  lands  to  recompense  them  for 
the  loss.  All  the  contiguous  shore  north  and  south  had  already 
been  occupied.  Only  to  the  west  and  inland  was  it  possible  to 
extend  their  possessions.  Miles  Standish  from  his  favorite 
seat  on  the  summit  of  Captain's  hill,  now  crowned  by  the  noble 
monument  to  his  memory,  gazing  toward  the  setting  sun, 
beheld  a  vast  expanse  of  unbroken  primeval  forest,  stretching 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  in  gentle  undulations  of  varied 
green.  Within  the  sweep  of  his  vision  would  lie  a  large  part  of 
the  territory  of  the  ancient  town  of  Bridgewater.  It  was  an 
inviting  prospect,  and  the  people  of  Duxbury  were  not  slow  to 
enter  in  and  possess  the  land  which  they  probably  began  to  do 
soon  after  the  incorporation  of  Marshfield. 

In  1645  a  formal  grant  was  made  by  the  court  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Duxbury  of  a  competent  proportion  of  lands  about 
Satucket  toward  the  west  for  a  plantation  for  them,  and  to  have 


56  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


it  four  miles  every  way  from  the  place  where  they  shall  set  up 
their  center.  Miles  Standish,  John  Alden,  George  Soule, 
Constant  Southworth,  John  Rogers  and  William  Brett  were 
made  trustees  of  the  grant  for  the  equal  dividing  and  laying 
forth  the  lands  to  the  inhabitants.  The  inhabitants  of  Duxbury, 
who  thus  became  the  original  proprietors  of  Bridgewater,  were 
fifty-four  in  number,  to  whom  were  afterwards  added  their  first 
minister,  Rev.  James  Keith,  and  Deacon  Samuel  Edson  of 
Salem.  For  several  years  the  place  remained  a  part  of 
Duxbury  under  the  names  of  Satucket  and  Duxburrow  Planta- 
tions. 

On  March  23,  1649,  Miles  Standish,  Samuel  Nash  and 
Constant  Southworth,  in  behalf  of  all  the  townsmen  of  Duxbury, 
purchased  from  Massasoit,  who  then  called  himself  Ousamequin, 
a  tract  of  land  usually  called  "Satucket,"  extending  seven  miles 
east,  west,  north  and  south  from  the  weir  at  Satucket,  and  the 
purchase  was  made  and  the  deed  executed  on  a  small  rocky  hill, 
since  called  Sachem's  Rock,  near  the  weir.  The  deed  of 
purchase  still  exists  and  may  be  found  in  the  archives  of  the 
Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society.  Though  the  Satucket 
weir  was  thus  made  the  center  of  purchase,  it  was  not  "regarded 
as  the  center  of  the  town.  Immediately  after  the  title  was 
secured,  the  settlement  of  the  new  plantation  was  begun. 

On  either  side  of  yonder  stream,  then  called  Nunkatest,  or 
Nunkatetest,  the  first  settlers  staked  out  the  houselots  of  six 
acres  each,  which  had  been  allotted  them,  and  built  their  rude 
dwellings.  To  protect  themselves  from  Indian  attacks,  they 
built  their  houses,  many  of  which  were  fortified,  close  together, 
and  also  erected  a  stockade  or  garrison,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river. 

Let  us  in  imagination  enter  one  of  those  buildings.  Walls 
of  rough  hewn  logs  meet  the  eye  and  overhead  the  floor  beams 
are  exposed  to  view.  No  carpet  is  there.  It  may  be  that  a 
few  rugs,  made  of  rags  braided  by  the  thrifty  housewife,  lie  here 
and  there  on  the  rough  floor.  Light  is  admitted  through 
windows  filled  with  oiled  paper.  A  large  fireplace  with  its 
swinging  crane  supporting  a  huge  kettle,  furnishes  warmth  for 
the  household  in  winter,  and  suffices  for  cooking  the  simple  fare 


Sachem's  Rock  where  deeds  conveying  Old  Bridgewater  were 
signed  by  Massasoit  under  the  name  of  Ousamequin. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  57 


of  the  inmates.  In  place  of  a  piano  stands  a  spinning  wheel 
and  perhaps  a  hand-loom.  Pine  knots,  or  at  best  candles^ 
supply  the  little  artificial  light  which  is  needed  for  people  who 
usually  retire  and  rise  with  the  birds.  A  row  of  shining  pewter 
ware,  the  pride  of  the  worthy  matron  of  the  house,  is  ranged 
along  the  dresser.  On  a  shelf  may  be  seen  a  well  worn  Bible 
and  a  few  other  books.  Everything  betokens  the  res  angiistae 
doini,  which  characterized  also  the  homes  of  the  early  settlers 
of  imperial  Rome.  And  from  homes  like  this,  wherein  dwelt 
the  antique  virtues  of  faith,  honesty,  purity,  love  of  home  and 
love  of  country,  sprang  the  imperial  nation  whose  achievements 
in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  in  the  elevation  of  humanity  are 
eclipsing  the  glories  of  even  the  ancient  mistress  of  the  world. 

Though  only  two  of  the  nineteen  original  proprietors  of 
Bridgewater  who  removed  from  Duxbury  and  settled  here  were 
first  comers,  namely  Mitchell  and  Bassett,  yet  the  sons  of 
Standish  and  Alden  came  later,  and  nearly  all  the  first  inhabi- 
tants were  of  the  Leyden  community.  Among  the  others  were 
John  Washburn,  John  Ames,  John  Gary,  Arthur  Harris,  John 
Howard  and  Solomon  Leonard,  names  which  have  become  illus- 
trious in  the  history  of  the  town  and  state. 

Other  men  of  like  character  and  purpose  joined  them, 
Nicholas  Byram,  Robert  Latham,  Thomas  Whitman,  Samuel 
Allen,  Benjamin  Willis,  Thomas  Hayward,  John  Fobes,  John 
Kingman  and  John  Shaw. 

Bridgewater  shares  with  Duxbury  the  honor  of  being  the 
direct  offshoot  of  Plymouth.  Other  towns,  as  has  been  shown, 
were  largely  settled  from  other  sources,  but  Bridgewater  is  the 
child,  or  grandchild,  if  you  will,  of  Plymouth.  Sachem's  Rock, 
whatever  its  geological  formation,  is  of  the  same  geneological, 
political  and  theological  stratum  as  Plymouth  Rock. 

The  colonial  records  of  the  year  1656  contain  this  entry  : 
"Ordered,  that  Duxburrow  New  Plantations  be  allowed  to  be  a 
township  of  itself  distinct  from  Duxburrow,  and  to  be  called  by 
the  name  of  Bridgewater,  provided  that  all  publick  rates  be 
borne  by  them  with  Duxburrow  upon  equal  proportions." 

The  name  of  Bridgewater  had  begun  to  be  used  some  time 
before  the  town^was  incorporated.     There  is  no  evidence  that 


58  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


any  of  the  inhabitants  came  from  the  English  Bridgewater,  but 
they  had  clo^e  business  relations  with  New  England  Taunton, 
and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  proximity  of  that  town 
suggested  the  idea  of  taking  the  name  of  the  town  which  lies 
adjacent  to  the  English  town  which  bears  that  name.  The 
fortunate  selection  of  a  name  so  honorable  in  English  history, 
so  euphonious,  suggestive  of  rippling  brooks  and  gently  flowing 
rivers,  reconciles  us  to  the  loss  of  its  Indian  name,  Satucket. 

The  town  as  originally  constituted,  comprised  a  broad 
domain  of  about  ninety-six  square  miles,  which  included  the 
whole  of  what  is  now  the  town  of  Whitman,  a  large  part  of  the 
towns  of  Abington  and  Rockland,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
town  of  Hanson,  which  was  formerly  a  part  of  Pembroke. 

By  the  incorporation  of  Abington  and  Hanson  the  area  was 
reduced  to  about  seventy-two  square  miles,  extending  from  the 
colony  line  on  the  north  to  the  Titicut  river  on  the  south,  and 
from  Taunton  (now  Easton  and  Raynham)  on  the  west  to 
Hanson  on  the  east,  a  territory  greater  than  many  of  the 
European  principalities  of  that  time,  and  nine  times  as  large  as 
the  present  domain  of  the  Prince  of  Monaco. 

It  was  a  goodly  heritage  into  which  they  had  come,  with 
possibilities  of  comfort  and  even  wealth  for  its  fortunate  posses- 
sors. Along  the  numerous  streams  by  which  it  is  traversed 
were  many  good  mill  sites.  Great  meadows  afforded  abundant 
pasturage  and  hay  for  their  cattle.  The  ponds  and  streams 
abounded  in  fish  and  fur-bearing  animals  and  water  fowl  in  their 
season.  Game  large  and  small  frequented  the  vast  forest. 
Gigantic  pine,  oak,  maple  and  other  valuable  trees  flourished  all 
about  their  habitations.  These  trees  later  furnished  the  stout 
keels,  ribs,  and  sides  of  many  good  ships  built  at  Duxbury, 
Kingston  and  Plymouth,  and  even  at  Titicut  in  Bridgewater, 
where  ships  of  150  tons  were  built  and  floated  down  on  the 
spring  freshets.  Some  persons  now  living  remember  to  have 
seen  timber  gotten  out  for  that  purpose. 

But  if  these  sources  of  livelihood  and  comfort  excited  their 
hopes  and  filled  them  with  joyful  anticij)ations,  there  was  a 
darker  side  to  the  picture.  Within  the  forest  skulked  the 
dusky  savage,  capricious,  treacherous  and  fierce,  and  dangerous 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  59 


wild  beasts  lurked  there,  threatening  their  cattle  and  even  their 
lives.  One  of  the  earliest  entries  in  the  town  records  is  this  : 
"It  is  agreed  that  there  shall  be  five  wolf  traps  made."  The 
only  roads  then  existing  were  Indian  paths  or  trails,  one  of 
which  may  still  perhaps  be  traced  near  Sachem's  Rock.  For 
lack  of  roads,  carts  and  carriages  appear  not  to  have  been  used. 
Among  Miles  Standish's  effects,  who  died  in  1666,  were  five 
horses  and  colts,  two  saddles  and  a  pillion,  but  no  cart  or 
carriage. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  people  were  of  necessity,  as 
well  as  by  temper  and  disposition,  alert,  active,  resolute,  laborious 
and  self  reliant.  The  town  records  show  the  several  divisions 
of  land  which  were  made  between  the  original  proprietors  and 
those  who  purchased  from  them.  From  these  records  the 
names  of  the  land  owners  who  were  principal  men  of  the  town 
are  known. 

One  of  the  first  cares  of  the  original  settlers  was  the  erec- 
tion of  a  church.  For  several  years  they  had  no  settled 
minister,  the  candidate  whom  they  employed  apparently  not 
meeting  their  requirements.  In  1661  they  voted  to  build  a 
house  for  a  minister  who  should  settle  among  them,  and  to  give 
him  also  an  entire  right  in  the  township. 

On  February  16,  1664,  Rev.  James  Keith,  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland,  was  settled  as  their  first  minister  and  liberal  provision 
was  made  for  his  support.  The  house  which  they  built  on  the 
double  house-lot  granted  to  him,  still  stands,  a  lasting  monu- 
ment to  the  piety  and  liberality  of  the  people. 

Until  the  year  17 16  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
worshipped  at  the  first  church.  Then  a  second  precinct  or 
parish  was  incorporated,  but  by  the  act  the  whole  town  was 
obliged  to  an  honorable  maintenance  of  Rev.  Mr.  Keith  if  he 
should  become  incapacitated  from  performing  the  duties  of  his 
office.  The  town  was  thus  divided  into  the  north  and  south 
precinct  or  parish.  Rev.  Mr.  Keith  preached  the  sermon  of  the 
dedication  of  the  new  church  June  17,  1717.  In  1723,  the  east 
parish  and  in  1730,  the  north  parish  was  incorporated.  These 
parishes  were  created  for  ecclesiastical  purposes  only  and  the 
town  continued  undivided    till   1821    when  North  Bridgewater 


6o  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


was  set  off  and  incorporated,  and  later  on  in    1881    was  incor- 
porated as  the  city  of  Brockton. 

West  Bridgewater  was  set  off  and  incorporated  in  1822,  and 
East  Bridgewater  in  1823,  leaving  Bridgewater  to  bear  the  name 
and  continue  the  existence  of  the  ancient  town. 

Thus  for  nearly  two  centuries  the  ancient  town  maintained 
its  political  existence  before  the  requirements  of  increasing 
population  made  division  desirable.  Even  then  many  of  the 
inhabitaints  earnestly  opposed  the  breaking  of  the  bonds  which 
bound  the  parishes  into  a  municipal  unit  and  were  grieved  that 
the  identity  of  the  old  town  should  be  destroyed. 

The  act  by  which  the  town  of  Bridgewater  was  incorpor- 
ated is  itself  notable,  not  because  it  differs  materially  from  other 
similar  acts  of  the  court,  but  for  its  brevity  and  for  what  it' 
assumes.  Thirteen  words  suffice  to  create  the  town,  viz  : 
"Ordered,  that  henceforth  Duxbury  New  Plantation  be  allowed 
to  be  a  township  of  itself."  No  attempt  is  made  to  define  or 
limit  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  town.  The  act  contains  no 
condition  or  proviso  other  than  that  "all  public  rates  be  borne 
by  them  with  Duxburrow  upon  equal  terms."  It  assumes  not 
that  the  powers  and  duties  of  town  were  unlimited,  but  that  they 
were  well  known  to  the  incorporators  and  were  a  part  of  the 
unwritten  law  of  the  land.  It  made  the  town  an  independent, 
self  governing  body  in  all  local  concernments,  in  fact  an 
imperium  in  hnperio — a  republic.  In  creating  this  and  othei" 
towns  the  forefathers  restored  the  ancient  town  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  which  by  aggression  of  Norman  kings  and  lords  and 
their  successors  in  England  had  been  robbed  of  its  political 
rights,  and  in  many  cases  reduced  to  a  mere  ville  or  appanage  of 
some  manor  house,  and  enlarged  its  rights  and  functions. 

The  New  England  town  meeting  was  a  revival  of  the  folk- 
mote  or  March  meeting  of  the  Teutonic  tribes.  To  New 
England  therefore  justly  belongs  the  imperishable  renown  of 
originating  and  leading  the  movement  for  the  creation  of 
republican  institutions,  which  in  due  tune  overwhelmed  the 
monarchical  and  aristocratic  tendencies  of  the  southern  colonies 
and  determined  the  form  and  character  of  our  state  and  national 
governments. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  6l 


Distinguished  thus  in  its  origin,  how  has  the  town  of 
Bridgewater  and  its  succeeding  municipalities  fulfilled  the 
promise  of  its  early  days  ?  Has  it  been  true  to  the  principles 
and  examples  of  its  founders  ?  Has  it  performed  in  peace  and 
in  war  the  proper  functions  of  a  town  so  formed  and  so 
empowered  ? 

As  regards  its  growth  and  material  prosperity  it  is  only 
necessary  to  look  around  for  an  answer.  Every  vestige  of 
primeval  forest  traversed  by  Indian  trails  has  long  since  disap- 
peared. A  thriving  village  with  substantial,  commodious  houses 
covers  the  site  of  the  rude  dwellings  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
town.  Broad,  well  constructed  highways,  at  all  times  the 
evidence  of  a  high  degree  of  civilization,  traverse  the  county  in 
every  direction,  facilitating  social  intercourse  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  business.  Steam  and  electric  cars  and  the  dashing, 
jaunty  automobile  whose  signals  reach  our  ears,  have  consigned 
the  saddle  and  the  stage  coach  to  the  rubbish  heap  except  for 
purposes  of  pleasure.  The  mail  car,  the  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone have  superseded  swift  messengers  on  foot  or  horseback, 
the  mail  carriers  of  that  early  time. 

The  population  within  the  original  boundaries  of  the  town, 
has  multiplied  and  increased  more  than  fifteen  hundred  fold,  the 
number  of  pupils  attending  the  public  schools  in  Brockton 
today  is  greater  than  the  entire  population  of  the  four  Bridge- 
waters  in  1837.  Four  populous  towns,  not  to  mention  a  large 
part  of  Abington  and  part  of  Rockland,  and  one  city  of  nearly 
50,000  inhabitants,  have  grown  up  within  the  borders  of  the 
town  as  incorporated. 

The  arts  of  peace  have  flourished  here.  Agriculture,  the 
first  and  most  necessary  of  human  occupations,  favored  by  a 
soil  for  the  greater  part  fertile  and  easily  cultivated,  prospered, 
and  the  town  early  became  famous  for  its  agricultural  produc- 
tions. 

The  numerous  water  privileges  furnished  by  the  various 
streams  which  permeate  the  town,  invited  manufacturing  enter- 
prises and  the  inhabitants  quickly  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunities  thus  afforded.  Grist  mills,  and  saw  mills,  the 
prime  necessities    of   the  pioneers,  were   early    built.     Deacon 


62  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Samuel  Edson,  the  miller,  who  was  given  a  proprietary  share  in 
the  township  presumably  to  induce  him  to  locate  here,  owned 
and  probably  built  the  first  mill  in  the  town  near  this  place. 

The  discovery  of  iron  ore  in  enormous  quantities  in  the 
form  of  bog  iron  found  at  the  bottom  of  ponds  and  swamps  in 
the  Old  Colony,  gave  rise  to  iron  industries  which  soon  became 
important.  The  Leonards  of  Taunton  and  Bridgewater  were 
the  pioneers  in  this  branch  of  the  business. 

Though  Bridgewater  seems  to  have  been  second  in  time  to 
Taunton  in  establishing  iron  manufactories,  it  can  justly  claim 
to  have  surpassed  all  other  New  England  towns  in  inventive 
genius  applied  to  its  development.  Hon.  Hugh  Orr,  Scotchman, 
who  had  learned  the  gunsmith's  trade  in  his  native  country, 
came  to  Bridgewater  in  1740,  and  erected  a  mill  and  set  up  a 
trip-hammer  on  the  Matfield  river  near  the  village  of  East 
Bridgewater,  using  for  that  purpose  the  timl:)ers  of  the  first 
meeting  house  built  afEast  Bridgewater.  Firearms  were  there 
made  by  him.  There  also  machinery  for  carding  and  spinning 
cotton  was  manufactured.  Cannon  and  firearms  made  there 
and  at  the  Bridgewater  Iron  Works  and  the  North  F'urnace 
were  supplied  to  the  American  armies  of  the  French  and  Indian 
war  and  the  Revolution.  In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  the 
Bridgewater  Iron  Works  furnished  many  cannon  to  the  United 
States,  one  of  which  of  enormous  size  was  exhibited  at  the  fair 
of  the  Plymouth  County  Agricultural  Society  and  afterwards 
mounted  before  Fort  Sumter  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  aided  in 
reducing  the  place.  Mitchell  says,  "It  may  therefore  with  truth 
be  perhaps  said  that  the  first  firearms,  the  first  solid  cannon  cast 
and  the  first  cotton  thread  ever  spun  in  America  were  made  in 
Bridgewater."  The  first  machine  for  cutting  and  heading  nails 
at  one  operation  was  probably  invented  and  made  by  Samuel 
Rogers  of  East  Bridgewater. 

Gins  for  cleaning  cotton  were  also  first  made  at  the  factory 
near  the  Satucket  weir.  Mitchell  justly  remarks,  "Few  places, 
therefore,  have  done  more  towards  the  introduction  and  promo- 
tion of  the  mechanic  arts  than  Bridgewater."  But  the  great 
industry  of  Bridgewater  and  its  succeeding  municipalities  is  the 
manufacture  of    shoes.     Beginning   in  a  small  way  about   100 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  63 


years  ago,  it  increased  with  great  rapidity  until  it  became  the 
leading  industry  of  the  four  towns.  By  the  invention  of 
wonderful  machines  which  now  turn  out  shoes  with  astonishing 
rapidity  and  almost  without  human  aid,  the  business  has  been 
entirely  revolutionized.  The  cobbler's  bench  of  early  time  and 
the  little  shoe  shop  which  succeeded  it  have  disappeared. 

North  Bridgewater,  now  Brockton,  early  took  a  leading 
part  in  this  business,  and  when  the  introduction  of  complicated 
machinery,  necessitating  a  constant  supply  of  highly  skilled  and 
intelligent  labor,  rendered  the  concentration  of  plants  very 
desirable,  if  not  indispensable,  that  town  which  seems  to  have 
inherited  its  full  share  of  the  enterprise  and  business  ability  of 
the  forefathers  of  Bridgewater,  attracted  to  itself  nearly  all  the 
shoe  business  of  the  surrounding  towns.  The  resulting  growth 
has  been  marvelous.  Factories  by  the  score,  some  of  vast 
proportions,  furnish  employment  to  thousands  of  workmen. 
Shoes  of  every  kind  and  description  are  produced  by  the  million. 
The  output  has  increased  from  142,610  cases  in  1876,  to 
692,183  in  1905,  with  a  valuation  of  $38,070,065. 

Among  the  names  of  the  most  successful  manufacturers 
may  be  found  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  Bridgewater,  such  as 
Keith,  Packard,  South  worth,  Howard,  Bryant,  Brett,  Leach, 
Kingman,  Gary,  Aldcn,  Dunbar  and  Whitman.  While  others 
like  the  Hon.  W.  L  Douglas,  late  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
have  upheld  the  best  traditions  of  the  town  for  business  sagacity 
and  entei  iM'i.^e.    - 

Nor  has  this  splendid  success  been  attended  by  the  sacrifice 
of  principle  and  humanity  on  the  part  of  employers,  nor  of  the 
moral  and  physical  well-being  of  employees.  It  is  well  within 
the  bounds  of  moderation  to  say  that  there  is  no  great  manu- 
facturing center  in  the  country  where  a  higher  degree  of 
intelligence  and  comfort  prevails  among  the  people  in  general 
and  none  where  wiser,  more  generous,  and  public-spirited 
employers  can  be  found.  Magnificent  public  buildings  and 
palatial  private  residences  evidence  the  wealth  which  has 
resulted  from  this  industry. 

In  educational  matters  Bridgewater  has  had  an  honorable 
record.     Instruction  during  the  early  years  of   the  settlement 


64  JS°'^**    ANNIVERSARY 


was  probably  given  in  private  schools.  But  later,  when  popula- 
tion and  wealth  had  increased,  public  schools  were  established 
and  were  liberally  supported.  The  people  were  also  interested 
in  the  higher  learning.  Rev.  Mr.  Keith  and  Elder  Brett  raised 
;^I2  by  subscription  towards  the  support  of  Harvard  College, 
then  in  its  infancy. 

In  1799  Bridgewater  Academy  was  incorporated  and  for 
many  years  until  its  recent  absorption  into  the  Bridgewater 
High  School,  furnished  excellent  instruction  in  the  higher 
branches,  training  and  preparing  many  young  men  for  college. 

In  1838,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  Bridgewater  men  had 
graduated  from  Harvard,  Yale,  Brown,  Dartmouth  and  Nassau 
(now  Princeton,)  nearly  one-half  of  whom  became  ministers.  It 
is  probable  that  twice  that  number  have  since  then  secured  a 
college  education.  Eight  of  the  thirty-two  graduates  from  the 
east  parish  during  that  period  bore  the  name  of  Whitman.  It 
appears  that  one-quarter  of  the  graduates  of  the  class  of  1785 
at  Harvard  were  from  Bridgewater. 

The  splendid  common  school  systems  of  the  four  munici- 
palities which  celebrate  this  day,  supervised  by  expferts  in  the 
science  of  pedagogy,  comprising  schools  of  every  grade  from  the 
Kindergarten  to  the  High  School,  presided  over  by  teachers 
specially  trained  for  their  work,  and  housed  for  the  most  part  in 
modern  buildings  equipped  with  all  known  appliances  and  aids 
for  imparting  knowledge,  with  free  transportation  for  pupils 
residing  at  a  distance,  and  supplemented  by  the  Bridgewater 
Normal  School  and  Howard  Collegiate  Institute,  are  all  the 
legitimate  and  natural  outgrowth  of  the  foresight  and  wisdom 
of  our  progenitors  in  planting  and  nourishing  the  tree  of  know- 
ledge in  the  wilderness  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago. 

Religion  and  education  in  those  enlightened  communities 
have  always  gone  hand-in-hand.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  by 
us  or  by  those  who  succeed  us  on  the  stage  of  life,  that  here  at 
least  religion  has  never  been  opposed  to  knowledge,  that  it  was 
because  of  their  religious  principles  that  our  forefathers  estab- 
lished free  public  schools  and  other  institutions  of  learning.  A 
free,  self-governing  church  demanded  an  educated,  intelligent 
membership    and    ministry,    and    made    schools    and    colleges 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  65 


necessary. 

The  broad  rock  on  the  bank  of  yonder  river,  which  at  first 
served  as  a  pulpit  for  the  infant  church,  is  emblematical  of  the 
breadth  and  simplicity  of  their  faith  and  worship,  the  strength 
and  firmness  of  their  religious  convictions,  and  the  steadfastness 
and  immovability  of  their  Christian  character.  Their  first  pastor 
near  the  end  of  his  long  pastorate  bore  this  testimony  to  the 
character  of  the  town  :  "The  New  England  Bridgewater  has 
been  a  town  favored  of  God."  "It  was  planted  a  noble  vine." 
"The  planters  of  it  were  a  set  of  people  who  made  religion  their 
main  interest  and  it  became  their  glory."  Increase  and  Cotton 
Mather  called  it  a  "most  praying  and  a  most  pious  town." 

The  young  men  were  conspicuous  in  public  worship.  In 
the  town  records  for  1674  appears  this  entry  :  "The  young 
men  were  allowed  to  build  galleries  to  the  meeting  house,  and 
to  have  the  front  seats  to  themselves." 

A  long  line  of  able  and  accomplished  ministers  succeeded  • 
Mr.  Keith,  among  them  were  Rev.  John  Reed,  S.  T.  D.,  of  the 
first  parish  ;  Rev.  John  Shaw,  S.  T.  D.,  of  the  south  parish  ; 
Rev.  James  Flint,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Baalis  Sanford  of  the  east 
parish  ;  Rev.  John  Porter  and  Rev.  Paul  Couch  of  the  north 
parish. 

Forty-two  churches,  representing  all  the  leading  denomina- 
tions of  Christian  faith  and  worship,  now  minister  to  the 
spirituaf  needs  of  the  people  in  the  field  where  one  sufficed  for 
sixty  years. 

Never  was  the  religious  life  of  these  communities  more 
active  and  vigorous  than  it  is  today.  The  declaration  of  holy 
writ  that  "Righteousness  exalteth  a  people,"  is  illustrated  in 
these  towns. 

The  cause  of  temperance,  earnestly  advocated  by  the  first 
pastor  and  supported  by  his  people,  has  always  been  and  now  is 
effectively  maintained  here. 

In  1671  the  town  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  who 
drank  strong  drink  in  ordinaries.  A  great  temperance  revival 
took  place  in  these  towns  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century 
when  illicit  liquor  selling  was  extirpated. 

The   city    of    Brockton   has   an   enviable   record   on    this 


66  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


question.     Not  a  liquor  saloon  exists  within  its  borders. 

The  citizens  of  these  municipalities  have  at  all  times  main- 
tained good  government  within  their  respective  jurisdictions. 

No  riots  or  violent  disturbances  have  ever  brought  disgrace 
upon  them. 

In  business,  professional  and  public  life  the  men  of  Bridge- 
water  and  their  descendants  have  won  high  distinction. 

From  Thomas  Alger  descended  the  distinguished  divine 
and  author,  Rev.  William  R.  Alger. 

From  John  Ames  descended  the  Ameses  of  Easton,  of 
whom  Oliver  and  Oakes  built  the  first  transcontinental  railroad, 
the  Union  Pacific,  of  which  Oliver  was  president  for  several 
years  until  his  death. 

Oakes  Ames  was  a  member  of  Congress  and  Oliver  Ames, 
2d,  was  twice  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  Fisher  Ames,  the 
great  orator  and  publicist,  was  of  the  same  stock. 
,  From  Rev.  John  Angier  descended  Oakes  Angier,  Esq.,  of 
West  Bridgewater,  the  brilliant  barrister,  whose  great  career 
was  cut  short  by  an  untimely  early  death. 

From  Ichabod  Bryant  descended  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
poet  and  journalist. 

From  John  Gary  descended  on  the  mother's  side  Marcus 
Morton,  of  Taunton,  member  of  Congress,  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  his  son,  Marcus 
Morton,  2d,  for  many  years  Justice  and  Chief  Justice  of  the 
same  Court. 

From  John  Fobes  or  Forbes  descended  Hon.  Charles  E. 
Forbes,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts. 

From  Arthur  Harris  descended  Hon.  Benjamin  W.  Harris 
of  East  Bridgewater,  member  of  Congress  and  Judge  of  Probate, 
and  his  son,  Hon.  Robert  Orr  Harris,  Justice  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Massachusetts. 

From  Thomas  Hayward  descended  Hon.  Thomas  Hayward, 
Jr.,  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  Governor's 
Assistant. 

From  John  Howard  descended  Benjamin  B.  Howard  of 
West  Bridgewater  and  New  Bedford,  noted  for  his  business 
ability,  who  built    and  endowed    Howard    Collegiate  Institute, 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  67 


and   Francis  E.   Howard,  his  son,  the  generous  patron  of  the 
Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society. 

From  Rev.  James  Keith  descended  Ziba  C.  Keith,  first 
Mayor  of  Brockton,  George  E.  Keith,  the  shoe  manufacturer, 
and  many  other  men  eminent  in  business  and  in  the  professions 
through  the  country. 

From  John  Kingman  descended  Hosea  Kingman,  Esq.,  the 
accomplished  and  learned  lawyer. 

From  Experience  Mitchell  descended  many  men  conspic- 
uous for  their  ability  and  services  in  the  civil  and  military 
affairs  of  the  town  and  state,  among  whom  was  the  able  and 
learned  Hon.  Nahum  Mitchell  of  East  Bridgewater,  historian 
of  Bridgewater,  member  of  Congress  and  for  many  years  Judge 
and  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  Edward  C.  Mitchell,  of  Leland  University,  New 
Orleans,  La. 

From  Samuel  Reed  descended  Rev.  John  Reed,  D.  D.,  of 
West  Bridgewater,  and  his  son,  John  Reed,  Esq.,  of  Yarmouth 
and  West  Bridgewater,  for  many  years  member  of  Congress. 

From  Rev.  Zedekiah  Sanger,  D.  D.,  who  came  from 
Duxbury  and  was  installed  as  assistant  to  Rev.  John  Shaw  at 
South  Bridgewater  in  1781,  descended  Hon.  George  P.  Sanger, 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

From  John  Shaw  descended  that  great  jurist,  Lemuel 
Shaw,  for  many  years  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  of  Massachusetts. 

From  John  Washburn  descended  Emory  Washburn  of  the 
highest  eminence  as  a  jurist  and  author  of  legal  and  historical 
works,  Professor  of  Law  in  Harvard  Law  School,  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  Governor  of  Massachusetts  ; 
William  B.  Washburn,  United  States  Senator  and  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  ;  Elihu  B.  Washburn,  member  of  Congress, 
Secretary  of  State  and  for  seven  years  United  States  Minister 
to  ?" ranee  ;  Cadwalader  C.  Washburn,  member  of  Congress  and 
Governor  of  Wisconsin,  and  Charles  Ames  Washburn,  journa- 
list and  author  and  United  States  Minister  to  Paraguay. 
Three  brothers  of  this  family  were  serving  in  Congress  at  the 
same  time. 


68  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


From  Thomas  Whitman  descended  the  brothers  Kiborn 
and  Benjamin  Whitman,  born  in  Bridgewater,  lawyers  and 
public  men  of  conspicuous  ability,  of  whom  Kiborn  was  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  when  Nahum  Mitchell  was  Chief 
Justice  ;  Ezekiel  Whitman  of  East  Bridgewater,  member  of 
Congress  and  for  many  years  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  and  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Maine  ;  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman,  the  missionary  who  saved  the  vast  territory 
of  Oregon  to  the  United  States,  and  a  host  of  men  eminent  in 
the  professional,  educational  and  business  life  of  the  state  and 
nation. 

Others  like  Hon.  William  Baylies  of  West  Bridgewater, 
Hon.  Aaron  Hobart  of  East  Bridgewater,  and  Hon.  Artemus 
Hale  of  Bridgewater,  have  represented  the  district  in  Congress, 
and  Hon.  William  L.  Douglas  of  Brockton  has  occupied  the 
Governor's  chair. 

This  list  by  no  means  exhausts  the  roll  of  Bridgewater's 
worthy  and  illustrious  sons  and  their  descendants.  To  mention 
all  by  name  only  would  require  a  celebration  of  a  week's 
duration. 

If  Bridgewater  has  not  furnished  a  president  to  the  nation 
it  has  not  been  for  lack  of  presidential  timber,  as  the  names 
already  mentioned  abundantly  show. 

In  war  as  in  peace,  Bridgewater  has  fully  and  honorably 
discharged  its  duty  to  the  state. 

In  the  early  Indian  wars  Bridgewater  men  were  conspic- 
uous for  address  and  gallantry. 

They  assisted  in  the  destruction  of  the  Pequot  stronghold 
in  Connecticut,  by  which  that  fierce  and  dangerous  tribe  was 
annihilated.  They  were  with  Capt.  Church  in  the  Great  Swamp 
fight  at  Kingston,  R.  I.,  when  King  Philip's  power  was  broken. 
Jn  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  which  caused  greater  loss 
of  life  and  property  in  the  New  England  towns  than  any  other 
conflict,  they  were  in  most  of  the  important  engagements. 

They  took  part  in  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point  and  in 
the  reduction  of  Louisburg. 

Bridgewater  men  fought  at  Concord  and  Lexington  and 
Bunker  Hill  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  in  the 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  69 


battles  at  Stillwater,  which  ended  in  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne 
and  decided  the  result  of  the  war,  and  in  many  other  battles  ot 
that  war. 

In  the  Civil  war  Bridgewater  poured  out  her  blood  and 
treasure  for  the  preservation  of  the  union.  In  every  campaign 
of  that  war  and  in  many  a  desperate  conflict  her  men  followed 
the  glorious  flag  of  liberty  and  union  to  its  ultimate  triumph. 

East  Bridgewater  alone  furnished  257  men  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  377  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  other  Bridgewaters  undoubtedly  furnished  propor- 
tionate numbers. 

Thus  briefly  have  we  sketched  the  origin,  settlement  and 
growth  of  the  town  of  Bridgewater,  the  character  and  achieve- 
ments of  its  inhabitants,  and  the  notable  events  of  its  history. 

It  is  well  to  recount  and  praise  the  mighty  deeds  and 
excellent  virtues  of  our  forefathers,  but  it  is  far  better  to 
imitate  them. 

Never  was  courage,  honesty  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
common  weal  more  needed  in  this  county  than  today. 

Prosperity  has  relaxed  the  moral  fibre  of  the  American 
people.  Appalling  revelations  of  dishonesty  and  corruption 
permeating  the  political  and  business  world  have  alarmed  and 
disheartened  true  lovers  of  their  country. 

There  is  but  one  remedy  for  the  gigantic  evils  which  have 
insidiously  fastened  themselves  upon  the  vitals  of  the  nation, 
and  that  is  a  speedy  return  to  the  principles  and  practices  of  the 
fathers. 

Such  a  return  has  already  begun  under  the  leadership  of 
the  great  patriot  and  statesman  who  now  fills  and  magnifies  the 
oflfice  of  President  of  the  United  States.  God  grant  that  there 
may  be  no  halting  on  his  part  nor  on  the  part  of  the  American 
people,  until  the  ancient  standards  of  public  and  private  life  and 
conduct  shall  have  been  restored,  and  the  nation  once  more 
stands  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  as  pre-eminent  in  right- 
eousness as  it  is  in  intellectual  and  material  greatness. 


yo  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Address. 

Dr.   Loring  W.   Puffer,  of  Brockton,   President  of  the  Old 
Bridgewater  Historical  Society. 


The  incorporation  of  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical 
Society  took  place  in  1895.  Five  years  later  the  Society,  having 
received  a  gift  of  land  from  Francis  E,  Howard,  a  building  was 
erected  upon  it  in  1900,  on  Howard  Street,  West  Bridgewater. 
The  Building  Committee  was  chosen  by  the  Society  from  the 
Society  and  consisted  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  W.  Harris,  Loring 
W,  Puffer,  Francis  E.  Howard,  Charles  R.  Packard,  Henry 
Gurney,  Simeon  C.  Keith,  Ziba  C.  Keith,  Joshua  E.  Crane  and 
Samuel  P.  Gates. 

Dr.  Loring  W.  Puffer  was  afterwards  appointed  to  act  as 
agent  of  the  committee,  and  had  general  supervision  of  the 
work. 

The  entire  cost  of  the  building  was  about  $8,000.  The 
architects  were  Cooper  &  Bailey  of  Boston,  and  the  contractors 
Crowell  &  Briggs  of  Brockton. 

While  all  of  the  men  in  that  number  were  noble  and  useful, 
no  one  was  more  loved  and  respected  than  Henry  Gurney  of 
East  Bridgewater,  now  living  in  another  world.  Every  moment 
of  his  life  he  was  thinking  and  acting  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  Society,  both  by  his  counsel  and  by  money,  and  I  wish  here 
and  now  to  pay  my  tribute  to  his  steadfast  honor  in  all  acts 
relative  to  me,  or  the  Society  until  the  time  of  his  death. 
Sainted  man  !  The  last  work  of  his  life  was  to  sign  a  paper 
asking  that  the  town  in  which  he  was  born  would  contribute  to 
the  printing  of  the  old  records,  and  the  celebration  of  the  250th 
anniversary  which  we  are  doing  now. 

There  was  but  one  name  mentioned  when  we  selected  a 
President — the  name  of  Benjamin  W.  Harris,  who  as  most  of 
you  know  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  Society. 

A  few  words  about  his  ancestors.  In  the  year  1740  Hugh 
Orr  of  Scotland,  a  thrifty  Scot,  moved  by  a  common  impulse 
among  the  people  at  that  time,  came  to  Bridgewater.      It  was  a 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  7 1 


marvellous  change  from  the  banks  and  braes  of  Bonny  Doon, 
and  a  country  hundreds  of  years  old,  to  a  wilderness  in 
America.  Providence  had  ordained  that  he  was  to  be  the  man 
whose  fertile  brain  and  cunning  hand  was  to  fashion  the 
bayonet,  the  musket,  and  the  cannon,  that  later  were  to  wake 
the  echoes  at  Charlestown,  Dorchester  Heights  and  elsewhere. 
Selecting  a  wife  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  the  home  of  two 
future  presidents,  he  obeyed  the  law  to  replenish  the  earth,  and 
ten  children  came  to  help  found  Bridgewater. 

Arthur  Harris  came  over  one  hundred  years  before  Orr,  in 
1640,  and  his  virile  family  intermarried  with  other  families  of 
Bridgewater  and  elsewhere,  including  the  names  of  Winslow, 
Howard,  Latham,  Orr  and  Snell,  wi-th  at  least  twenty-five 
names  of  Pilgrims  and  forefathers. 

Judge  Benjamin  Winslow  Harris  of  East  Bridgewater,  was 
born  in  1823.  His  ancestry  embraces  from  thirty  to  forty 
families  of  that  noble  band  called  the  Plymouth  Colony.  He 
was  made  District  Attorney  in  1858,  and  served  for  seven  years 
in  Plymouth  and  Norfolk  Counties  ;  in  1872  he  was  elected  to 
Congress,  where  he  remained  ten  years.  His  special  work  was 
mostly  in  the  interest  of  the  Navy,  and  he  justly  received  the 
title  of  "Father  of  the  Navy."  His  work  since  has  been  law 
practice  and  Judge  of  Probate  for  Plymouth  County. 

Elevated  to  many  noted  positions  by  the  common  people, 
and  by  appointments  by  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  he 
has  served  the  people  here  and  elsewhere  with  honesty,  discre- 
tion, fidelity  and  zeal.  The  slurs  of  the  envious,  as  well  as  the 
plaudits  of  the  public,  have  never  disturbed  his  serenity  of 
mind,  and  he  still  lives  an  example  to  be  copied  by  those  who 
believe  in  God,  liberty  and  education,  and  a  kind  but  just  and 
effectual  enforcement  of  law. 

He  began  his  service  to  the  state  and  nation  a  poor  man  in 
worldly  goods  and  he  is  not  a  millionaire  today.  He  is  an 
example  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  of  a  man  who  said  "Give  me 
neither  poverty  or  riches;"  and  does  he  not  just  fit  into  the 
niche  described  by  a  poet  of  Bridgewater,  (Jedidiah  Southworth) 
who  was  a  Captain  in  the  Revolution,  in  a  little  poem  when 
speaking  of  the  great  Samuel  Adams, 


7*  250TH   ANNIVERSARY 


"Such  is  the  man,  my  Muse  would  fain  describe, 
Attached  to  virtue,  never  grasped  a  bride, 
Meekness  and  wisdom,  are  in  him  combined. 
Uncommon  talents  occupy  his  mind ; 
Excelled  by  few,  if  any,  in  the  States, 
Loves  freedom  yet,  and  tyranny  he  hates." 

Inheriting,  as  he  did,  the  blood  of  honorable  Hugh  Orr, 
one  of  the  many  of  his  great  ancestors,  he  has  performed  a 
service  to  the  County,  State  and  Nation,  achieved  by  few,  and 
his  ermine  has  never  been  tarnished.  Long  may  he  live  to 
be  a  comfort  to  his  family  and  satisfaction  to  his  numerous 
friends  as  they  review  his  well  spent  life  in  the  service  of  the 
public. 

Today  we  are  to  speak  of  the  past  that  suggests  the  duties 
of  the  future,  that  are  rarely  considered,  except  on  commemora- 
tive occasions,  and  I  speak  from  my  heart  without  personality. 

The  poet  says,  "Nature  unadorned  is  adorned  the  most," 
but  Nature  is  naked,  and  like  man  needs  some  clothing,  and 
training,  and  this  applies  to  trees — the  glory  of  the  world. 

Where  the  first  church  and  graveyard  was  and  now  is,  but 
used  as  a  road  today  in  West  Bridgewater,  the  surroundings 
are  nearly  the  same  as  one  hundred  years  ago.  Nature  should 
be  assisted  and  trained.  Nature's  pruning  seems  destruction. 
Witness  San  Francisco !  Ill-constructed  buildings  everywere 
in  the  world,  timbers  too  small,  not  properly  fastened,  too  much 
sand  in  mortar,  in  short,  greed  and  sin,  go  hand- in-hand 
working  destruction  to  life  and  property  to  make  money.  On 
the  other  hand  the  cement  of  brotherly  love  binds  and  holds  a 
community  together  like  honest  well  laid  cement  in  a  building, 
for  then  both  stand. 

Men  may  be  led,  but  they  can  never  be  driven.  The 
building  of  our  Historical  Society  lies  in  the  most  fertile  and 
beautiful  part  of  ancient  Bridgewater.  Unsightly  fences,  here 
and  elsewhere,  trees  out  of  place,  unnecessary  elevations  in 
streets,  and  in  short  all  those  objects  that  render  a  landscape 
disorderly  should  be  changed,  even  though  it  should  render  the 
property  more  valuable,  and  hence  lift  the  taxes  a  peg.  The 
man  that  does  as  his  grandfather  did,  by  burning  bushes  and 
wood  to  remove  rocks,  works  at  an  expense  of  time  and  money, 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  73 


and  can  now  use  dynamite,  for  the  men  that  today  use  ancient 
modes,  cumber  the  earth. 

In  this  brief  consideration  of  life  in  the  new  world  since 
1620,  and  locally  that  portion  of  it  mainly  bounded  by  the  Old 
Colony  lines,  it  is  not  expected  or  desired  in  the  duties  of  this 
day  that  more  than  a  single  glance  can  be  given  to  the  few 
subjects  touched  upon  by  me. 

Just  exactly  why  the  Plymouth  Colony  was  planted  in 
1620  at  Plymouth  has  been  answered  by  historians,  judges,  and 
the  clergy.  Planted  in  weakness,  it  has  been  raised  in  power 
until  in  a  life  of  nearly  three  hundred  years,  it  faces  the  world 
today  impregnable.  The  living  principles  enunciated  and  lived 
were  obedience  to  the  law,  compulsory  education,  and  belief  in 
Him,  "who  plants  his  footsteps  on  the  sea  and  rides  upon  the 
storm."  The  compact  in  the  Mayflower  was  the  rule  and 
guidance  of  their  simple  life,  as  they  faced  unshrinkingly  the 
first  winter,  the  king  of  terrors. 

It  is  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  since  the  town  of 
Duxbury  in  Massachusetts  was  granted  the  plantation,  after- 
wards known  as  Bridgewater.  This  act  was  by  the  Old  Colony 
Court  at  Plymouth  in  1645.  Other  grants  were  made  later.  The 
Old  Colony  Court  acts  were  undoubtedly  permissive,  that  is, 
suggesting  the  trade  afterwards  made  with  the  Indians,  repre 
sented  by  their  Chief  Ousamequin,  who  gave  a  deed  of  Bridge- 
water  lands  to  three  prominent  men  of  the  Old  Colony,  Captain 
Miles  Standish,  Deputy-Governor  Constant  Southworth  and 
Samuel  Nash. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of  this  ancient 
town.  The  details  of  this  exceedingly  interesting  and  impor- 
tant transaction  can  be  found  in  the  only  history  of  Bridgewater 
now  in  print,  and  published  by  the  Honorable  Nahum  Mitchell 
in  1840,  sixty-six  years  ago. 

This  story  of  the  settlement  of  Plymouth  County  and  its 
environs  has  been  told  many  times,  and  it  never  loses  its 
interest  in  the  retelling,  for  the  calm,  heroic  struggle  of  the 
Pilgrims  in  proverty,  exposure  and  death  for  a  principle,  furn- 
ishes a  scene  nowhere  else  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the 
world.     The    compact     on    the    Mayflower     seemed    divinely 


74  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


inspired,  containing  all  the  germs  of  wisdom  as  applied  to  other 
governments,  as  at  present  organized  on  this  earth  today,  or  in 
the  past  history  of  other  nations,  savage  or  civilized. 

From  the  time  the  Colony  was  established  at  Plymouth, 
and  other  sections  of  the  Old  Colony,  life  was  mostly  to  be 
found  in  log  houses,  with  rare  specimens  of  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Colonial  style.  This  variety  of  building  or  occcasionally 
others,  increased  until  about  the  year  1880  with  the  varying 
fortunes  of  the  people.  Some  houses  of  brick,  to  be  sure,  were 
to  be  found  in  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  but  were  compara- 
tively few,  while  today  a  few  houses  can  be  found  constructed 
of  three  inch  upright  plank,  and  dating  back  close  to  1700. 
The  method  of  building  was  a  safeguard  against  the  arrows  and 
bullets  of  the  Indians.  Cooking  by  and  in  the  fireplaces,  and  in 
brick  ovens  then  embraced  all  the  methods  known.  Today, 
complex  chemical  compositions  with  numberless  names,  cover 
our  dining  tables. 

The  lapse  of  fifty  years  since  the  200th  centennial  celebra- 
tion of  the  settlement  of  Bridgewater,  has  launched  the  Nation 
into  period  of  rapid  changes.  Never  before,  probably,  in 
recorded  history  has  such  startling  knowledge  been  daily 
flashed  over  the  world. 

In  all  domains  of  science,  proliferation  on  proliferation, 
excites  our  wonder,  and  sometimes  compels  our  appreciation. 
The  various  constructive  marvels  of  our  time  that  enter  into 
our  lives  seem  never  ending,  and  suggests  a  great  unfolding  of 
divine  purpose  in  the  various  professional  and  business  fields, 
where  the  people  are  employed. 

Archaeological  discoveries  in  the  past  fifty  years  have 
modified  to  some  extent  the  belief  of  the  people  as  to  the  age 
of  the  world,  as  well  as  their  conceptions  of  that  Being  we  call 
God.  Fifty  or  seventy-five  years  has  evidently  changed  creeds 
somewhat,  and  the  people  at  large,  believing  that  man  has  a  reli- 
gious duty,  approve  of  the  changes.  It  is  a  question  much  dis- 
cussed whether  the  vast  number  of  so-called  religious  beliefs, 
with  costly  buildings,  is  not  somewhat  of  a  hindrance,  when  we 
consider  the  people  to  whom  technique  is  of  more  consequence 
than  love,  honesty  and  wisdom.    And  would  not  larger  societies, 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  75 


and  more  able  men  here  and  elsewhere  directly  stimulate  larger 
audiences  with  greater  use  to  them  ? 

A  question  second  to  no  other  in  importance  to  us  as  a 
Nation,  is  the  problem,  what  are  we  to  do  with  our  boys  ? 
Fifty  and  more  years  ago,  all  boys  were  taught  to  do  something 
useful  with  their  hands.  They  served  no  regular  apprentice- 
ship in  the  family,  but  daily  learned  by  observation,  expectation 
or  request  the  simple  daily  life  and  the  use  of  common  tools. 
Every  man  of  average  character  or  note  had  a  garden  and  raised 
vegetables,  which  meant  money  for  the  family.  Who  has  a 
garden  today  ?  There  is  a  bond  between  the  earth  and  man, 
older  I  believe  than  civilization,  and  intelligent  and  active 
delvers  in  the  soil,  professional  or  the  laborer,  nightly  sleep  the 
sweet  sleep  of  the  just. 

Generally  the  boys  of  today  know  little  of  gardens.  I  am 
told,  and  I  believe,  that  the  judges  in  the  highest  courts  in  the 
State  consider  the  problem  of,  "What  to  do  with  the  boys,"  the 
most  serious  of  all  they  face  today.  Less  than  a  decade  makes 
thousands  of  voters  every  year.  The  Nation  is  to  be  gauged 
by  the  training  of  the  boys.  Many  boys  cannot  be  governed 
by  their  parents,  should  not  the  parents  be  held  responsible  for 
the  acts  of  children  between  ten  and  eighteen  ?  And  should 
not  the  father  be  held  responsible  if  he  cannot  control  them, 
and  is  not  reiterated  probation  in  most  cases  a  mistake  ?  Arbi- 
tration is  as  old  as  the  Bible,  but  should  not  justice  to  the 
people  as  to  sentences  as  well  as  probation,  have  a  proper  place 
in  our  Courts  .''  We  have  today  in  the  Old  Colony,  representa- 
tives of  most  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  They  are  giving  us 
object  lessons  in  economical  life  of  which  we  never  dreamed. 
With  all  the  valuable  denizens  landing  on  our  shores  we  receive 
too  the  scum  of  the  world  of  the  genus  homo. 

The  doctrines  of  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  acts  of  all  that 
has  made  us  a  nation  are  by  too  many  derided  and  ignored. 
And  yet  our  Judges  are  the  most  honorable  men  of  any  holding 
public  positions.  The  attendance  at  our  churches,  as  compared 
with  fifty  years  ago,  is  humiliating  to  the  lover  of  law  and  order, 
and  these  unpleasant  facts  cannot  have  escaped  the  observation 
of  any  individual  of  mature  years. 


j6  250TH   ANNIVERSARY 


Standing  here,  a  descendent  of  both  Pilgrims  and  Puritans, 
an  active  life  of  nearly  four  score  years  gives  me,  I  think,  a 
right  to  call  attention  to  changes  wrought  in  seventy-five  years 
of  unheard  of  development,  in  all  conjectural  and  other  lines. 

The  Nation  faces  today  as  never  before,  a  condition  that 
forces  pessimism  to  the  front  as  a  cardinal  principle.  The 
Yellow  Peril  is  not  our  worst  peril.  Witness  the  general  disre- 
gard of  not  only  all  of  our  ancient,  but  the  commonest  modern 
laws.  And  the  sentences  for  violation  of  all  laws  are  so 
cumbered  with  conditions,  that  one  is  reminded  of  the  opinion 
of  a  citizen  who  once  declared,  "That  he  was  in  favor  of  the 
Maine  law,  but  agin'  its  enforcement."  Witness  a  recent  case 
before  a  Court  in  New  England  that  everybody  knows  all  about 
where  the  public,  after  a  verdict  by  all  Courts  high  and  low,  for 
fame  or  greed,  tries  to  settle  that  case  by  petition. 

The  real  patriot  in  the  United  States  today  views  with 
alarm  the  modern  tendency  of  towns  and  cities  to  pile  up  debts 
for  future  generations  to  pay,  and  mostly  contracted  by  men  not 
owning  real  property,  and  who,  forgetting  the  injunction  that 
"the  diligent  hand  maketh  rich,"  still  further  depletes  his  own 
treasury  by  idleness  every  morning  of  the  two  best  hours  for 
work  in  the  whole  day. 

What  means  the  universal  vote  of  the  labor  element  all 
over  the  United  States  against  the  right  arm  of  this  Govern- 
ment— the  Army  and  Navy  ?  Is  treason  stronger  in  this 
Nation  today  than  patriotism  ?  Let  us  thank  God  that  we  have 
an  honest,  fearless  man  in  the  President's  chair  at  Washington, 
and  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  that  man. 

Why  then,  if  the  labor  element  is  loyal  today,  do  they 
oppose  the  enlistment  of  their  members  in  the  various  State's 
militia  ? 

Temples  and  monuments  will  crumble,  but  the  art  preser- 
vative will  live  forever.  History  to  the  world  is  what  the  soul 
is  to  the  body.  It  matters  not  what  the  vehicle  is  that  conveys 
the  idea,  for  it  is  the  thing  that  lives.  Hence,  the  work  and 
life  of  historical  societies  is  a  preservation  of  history.  The 
record  may  be  on  stone,  metal  or  paper,  yet  the  illumination  of 
the  divine  purpose  is  there.     The  temple  erected  to  the  living 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  yy 


God — the  temples  set  up  to  commemorate  other  gods,  or  to 
gratify  the  vanity  of  mortal  man,  have  their  uses,  but  the  work 
of  historical  societies  is  above  all  others  in  importance,  duty, 
scope  and  enjoyment. 

The  indifference  of  the  world  today  to  all  things  but  com- 
mercialism in  our  lives,  calls  for  consideration.  Eating,  drinking 
and  sleeping  should  be  supplemented  by  thinking  and  resolve. 

Thus  life  goes  on  with  more  or  less  success  to  the  end 
when  death  calls,  and  what  has  that  man  or  woman,  person  or 
thing  have  left  but  their  record  ?  The  undertaker  furnishes 
costly,  perishable  flowers — buries  the  body — possibly  erects  a 
monument,  and  live  historical  societies  gather  up  the  records  of 
his  life. 

Today  I  do  not  remember  an  event  that  has  ever  impressed 
me  more  than  a  single  sentence  uttered  by  ex-President  Grover 
Cleveland  during  the  heat  of  a  political  campaign.  A  young 
man  with  warm  blood,  he  had  been  accused  of  indiscretions  in 
youth,  and  his  political  manager  had  asked  him,  "What  shall  I 
say  .-•"  Without  a  moment  of  delay,  he  thundered  back,  for  he 
was  an  honest  patriot,  this  sentence  that  echoed  and  re-echoed 
all  over  the  United  States,  "Tell  the  truth." 

Does  not  today  the  representatives  of  Divinity,  Law, 
Medicine,  and  other  professions,  in  short  the  great  National 
body  politic,  need  to  study  that  sentence  ?  Is  not  that  slogan 
good  enough  to  use  ?  Man-traps  have  been  set  for  hundreds  of 
years,  and  the  newspapers  furnish  evidence  that  they  are  yet  in 
use. 

Among  the  many  noted  persons  whose  names  I  have  seen 
recorded  in  Old  Colony  records  as  eminent,  or  men  that  did 
things,  none  stand  out  in  history  to  me  more  prominently  than 
two  that  accident  has  thrown  in  my  way,  and  representing  as 
they  did  good  blood  and  education. 

The  first  on  the  list  is  Shepard  Fiske,  who  came  to  the 
North  Parish  in  Bridgewater  in  1724,  from  Braintree.  He  then 
twenty-one  years  old,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  a  physician,  trader, 
civil  engineer,  and  an  all- round  man  for  development.  For 
more  than  fifty  years  he  largely  shaped  the  life  of  Bridgewater. 
He  died  in  1779  and  is  buried  one-fourth  of  a  mile  from  this 


78 


250TH     ANNIVERSARY 


spot.  He  was  patriotic,  had  many  general  useful  attainments, 
professional  and  mechanical  that  have  never  yet  been  excelled 
by  any  in  this  vicinity.  He  was  a  physician,  teacher,  lawyer, 
farmer,  a  true  laborer  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  He  died  poor, 
and  noble  Williams  Latham  one  hundred  years  after  erected  a 
monument  to  his  memory. 

William  Baylies  is  the  second  man  on  this  list,  born  in 
1776,  he  settled  as  a  lawyer  in  Bridgewater.  He  was  undoubt- 
edly one  of  the  greatest  men  that  ever  lived  in  New  England, 
for  he  was  a  contemporary,  an  associate,  and  a  peer  of  Daniel 
Webster. 

A  paper  may  be  read  possibly  in  the  future  about  this,  one 
of  the  greatest  men  intellecturally  that  ever  lived  in  New 
England. 


Tables  Set  for  Dinner  in  the  Tent. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  jg 


Letters  of  Regret  Received  From  Invited 
Guests. 


The  committee  in  charge  received  many  interesting  and 
cordial  letters,  quotations  from  which  follow : 

Bridgewater,  England. 
I  beg  to  offer  to  you  and  your  communities  embraced  in 
the  centers  originally  called  Bridgewater,  Massachusetts,  and 
now  consisting  of  Bridgewater,  etc.,  my  personal  hearty  congrat- 
ulations on  your  forthcoming  celebration  of  the  250th  anniver- 
sary of  the  settlement,  etc.,  and  to  inclose  herewith,  for  your 
kind  acceptance,  a  lithograph  print  of  mine  of  Bridgwater 
(formerly  written  Bridgewater,)  England. 

Very  obediently, 

Fred  E.  Coles,  Mayor. 

Town  Clerk's  Office,  Bridgewater,  England. 
Dear  Sir : — 

Your  letter  of  May  12th  addressed  to  His  Worship  the 
Mayor  of  Bridgewater  was  cordially  received  and  read  with 
great  interest  at  the  Meeting  of  the  Town  Council  of  this 
Ancient  Borough  on  Thursday  last. 

The  time  between  now  and  the  celebration  of  the  250th 
Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  the  Communities  embraced  in 
the  territory  originally  called  Bridgewater  in  Massachusetts,  and 
now  consisting  of  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater,  West  Bridge- 
water  and  Brockton  (City),  is  too  limited  to  admit  of  Represent- 
atives from  my  Council  attending  such  celebration,  but  I  am 
desired  to  thank  you  for  the  kind  expressions  of  good-will  con- 
tained in  your  letter,  and  to  tender  to  your  Executive  Committee 
and  all  concerned  the  most  fraternal  greetings  of  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen  and  Burgesses  of  the  Borough  of  Bridgewater,  with 
the  earnest  hope  that  this  250th  Anniversary  will  be  a  complete 
success  and  tend  to  the  future  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the 
territory. 


8o  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Anticipating  that  a  few  photos  of  some  of  the  old  land- 
marks and  relics  of  this  our  ancient  Town  might  be  of  interest 
to  your  community,  they  have  been  despatched  and  I  trust  they 
will  safely  arrive. 

With  every  good  wish  believe  me, 
Yours  faithfully, 

W.  W.  Gaber. 


Joshua  E.  Crane,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir — I  am  directed  by  His  Excellency,  Governor 
Guild,  to  acknowledge  the  formal  invitation  of  your  committee 
to  him  to  attend  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Old 
Bridgewater,  on  June  13,  and  to  say  that  he  regrets  exceedingly 
that  his  official  duties  will  prevent  his  attendance. 

He  suggests  that  your  committee  communicate  with   His 
Honor  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Eben  S.   Draper,   Hopedale, 
Massachusetts,  and  ask    if    it  will  not  be  possible  for    him  to 
attend  to  represent  the  Commonwealth. 
Respectfully  yours, 

Charles  T.  Gettemy, 

Secretary  to  the  Governor. 


House  of  Representatives,  Washington,  D.  C,  June  2,  1906. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Crane  : — 

On  my  return  to  my  desk  after  two  days'  absence  in  New 
York  I  find  your  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  celebration 
of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Old  Bridgewater 
on  June  13.  I  regret  most  sincerely  that  a  previous  and  very 
urgent  engagement  here,  at  that  time,  prevents  me  from 
accepting.  This  is  all  the  more  regrettable  because  I  should 
enjoy  the  occasion,  and  especially  the  opportunity  to  respond  to 
the  sentiment  :  "The  Government  of  the  United  States."  I 
thank  you  and  the  Executive  Committee  for  the  honor  you  have 
done  me  by  thus  inviting  me.  Believe  me. 
Yours  very  faithfully, 

William  C.   Lovering. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  8 1 


Boston,  Mass.,  June  6,  1906, 
Joshua  E.  Crane,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir — I  regret  very  much  that  I  cannot  accept  the 
kind  invitation  to  the  250th  anniversary  of  Old  Bridgewater, 
but  the  graduation  time  of  my  boy  at  the  Middlesex  school  pre- 
vents my  acceptance.  With  most  interesting  memories  of  the 
old  town  and  its  associations  I  send  my  cordial  good  wishes  for 
the  occasion. 

Respectfully, 

John  D.  Long. 


Boston,  May  28,  1906. 
My  Dear  Sir : — 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  25th  asking  me  on 
behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  be  present  and  speak  at 
the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Old  Bridgewater,  June  13. 

I  desire  to  thank  the  committee  for  their  kind  invitation, 
but  shall  be  obliged  to  decline  for  the  reason  that  the  day  of  the 
celebration  comes  in  the  week  directly  following  the  summer 
session  in  Boston  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  June  5 
to  8,  and  as  I  shall  practically  be  away  from  my  office  all  of  that 
week  I  shall  be  extraordinarily  busy  the  week  following.  Other- 
wise I  should  be  very  glad  to  accept  the  invitation,  as  it  would 
give  me  much  pleasure  to  attend. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Myles  Standish. 


Easton,  June  10,  1906. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

Your  invitation  to  our  Board  to  attend  the  250th  anniver- 
sary   of    Old    Bridgewater   received    today,    au'i    owing    to   an 
important  meeting  of  our  Board  for  that  day  will  be  obliged  to 
decline  your  invitation.     Thanking  you  for  same,  we  are, 
Yours  truly, 

Everett  E.  Poole,  Chairman. 


82  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  June  11,  1906. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Crane  : — 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  with  sincere  appreciation  the  kind 
invitation  to  be  present  at  the  250th  celebration  of  the  settle- 
ment of  Old  Bridgewater  the  day  after  tomorrow.  You  may  be 
sure  that  were  it  not  for  many  duties  arid  engagements  which 
demand  my  time  and  strength,  I  should  be  present  to  join  with 
the  descendants  of  the  founders  of  the  town,  and  many 
hundreds  more  beside,  in  celebrating  the  history  and  traditions 
of  Bridgewater.  Anyone  who  has  in  blood  and  bone  an  infu- 
sion of  life-giving  power  from  that  good  Old  Colony  stock  must 
always  thrill  with  pride  and  pleasure  when  its  virtues  are 
celebrated. 

Regretting  exceedingly  that  I  cannot  come  to  the  anniver- 
sary on  Wednesday,  and  with  every  good  wish  for  the  complete 
success  of  the  occasion,  I  remain. 

Yours  cordially. 

Rev.  John  P.  Forbes. 

Plymouth,  June  11,  1906. 
Dear  Sir : — 

The  Board  of  Selectmen  thank  you  for  the  kind  invitation 
to  the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Old  Bridgewater,  and  regret  the  probable  inability  of  any 
member  of  the  Board  to  attend. 

Yours  respectfully, 

F.  N.   Bartlett,  Chairman. 

Swampscott,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.   Crane  : — 

With  sincere  regrets  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  invitation. 
So  illustrious  a  history  Bridgewater  is  privileged  to  have,  and 
judging  from  the  programme  the  celebration  can  but  be  a  grand 
success.  The  mere  fact  of  the  choice  of  orator  for  the  day  is 
sufficient  to  insure  it.  With  most  earnest  wishes  for  the  same, 
I  am, 

Cordially  yours, 

Annie  H.   Alden. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  83 


New  York,  June  4,  1906. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  receipt  of  your  favor 
of  May  29.  I  regret,  however,  to  say  that  it  will  be  impossible 
for  me  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  Bridgewater  on  the  13th  inst.  because  I  have 
made  a  number  of  arrangements  which  it  is  now  impossible  for 
me  to  break.  If  I  had  known  of  the  affair  sooner  I  think  I 
could  have  arranged  to  have  been  present.  You  will  under- 
stand, I  know,  the  disappointment  I  feel  at  my  inability  to  join 
.my  fellow-townsmen  on  this  interesting  occasion. 

Yours  very  truly, 

F.  D.  Millet. 

Scituate,  June  10,  1906. 
L.  W.  Puffer,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation  in  memory 
of  my  esteemed  friend,  the  late  Henry  Gurney,  to  be  present  at 
the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Old  Bridgewater.  I 
remain. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

Chas.  Otis  Ellms. 

Boston,  June  11,  1906. 
Dear  Mr.  Crane  : — 

Your  kind  invitation  to  the  250th  anniversary  of  Old 
Bridgewater  was  only  received  this  evening,  too  late  for  me  to 
make  any  arrangements  to  be  present,  as  my  engagements  are 
generally  filled  for  at  least  a  week  in  advance.  I  shall  be  in 
Cape  Cod  on  that  time.  I  have  been  much  interested  in  your 
town,  as  my  forbears  lived  and  died  there,  as  evidenced  by  deed 
and  probate  registry  over  which  I  have  spent  much  time.  I  am 
sorry  that  I  cannot  come,  but  it  is  impossible  to  change  my 
dates  now.  With  best  wishes  for  a  pleasant  and  successful 
meeting,  I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

Frank  A.  Bates, 

Sec'y.  Orcutt  Family  Association. 


84  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Boston,  June  10,  1906. 
Dear  Sir : — 

Let  me  thank  you  cordially  for  your  invitation  to  be 
present  at  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  Old  Bridgewater, 
Having  acquainted  myself  somewhat  with  your  history  for  the 
first  two  hundred  years,  and  your  contributions  to  the  life  of 
the  nation  during  that  period,  especially  through  your  old-time 
clergymen,  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  be  present.  It  will,  how- 
ever, be  impossible  for  me  to  attend. 

I  am  pleased  to  see  that  in  connection  with  your  response 
to  the  third  toast,  or  after  it,  you  make  use  of  the  hymn  of  our 
late  mutual  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Alden,  who  so  sincerely  and 
devotedly  loved  Old  Bridgewater. 

Very  truly  yours, 

George  A.  Jackson. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  85 


Remarks, 


By   Hon.  William    H.  Osborne,  East    Bridgewater,  Toast- 
master  of  the  Day. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — The  part  that  has 
been  assigned  to  me  on  this  occasion  is  that  of  offering  certain 
sentiments,  which  together  with  the  responses,  are  intended  to 
emphasize  in  a  concise  manner  certain  salient  features  in  the 
town's  history.  It  is  not  my  province  to  make  a  speech,  but  I 
cannot  neglect  the  opportunity  afforded  me  by  the  courtesy  of 
the  Executive  Committee,  to  add  my  testimony  attesting  the 
great  importance  of  this  historic  day. 

Any  one  having  even  the  smallest  pride  of  ancestry,  or 
veneration  for  his  nativity,  cannot  possibly  be  indifferent  to 
such  an  event  as  this. 

It  is  not  alone  the  fact  that  the  day  marks  the  lapse  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  the  ancient  town  had  its 
birth  that  makes  this  occurrence  of  such  peculiar  significance, 
but  also  the  succession,  during  this-  period,  of  the  many  great 
events  in  the  history  of  the  country  and  the  history  of  the 
world. 

Bridgewater  has  lived  to  see  the  nation  emerge  from  the 
condition  of  colonies  under  the  British  crown,  to  that  of  the 
most  powerful  and  enlightened  republic  in  the  world,  and  the 
blood  and  the  substance  of  its  people  were  freely  expended  in 
that  great  conflict  that  made  the  republic  possible. 

The  heroes  of  Bridgewater,  who  fell  while  following  the 
nation's  flag  in  the  bloody  encounters  of  the  late  Civil  War,  are 
numbered  among  the  400,000  victims  of  that  struggle  that  saw 
the  union  of  the  states  restored,  and  wiped  from  the  escutcheon 
of  the  nation  the  stain  of  human  slavery. 

It  is  only  becoming  that  we  should  pause  for  a  moment  in 
these  festal  exercises  and  remember  the  debt  of  gratitude  we 
owe  those  brave  men,  who  gave  to  their  country  and  our 
country,  in  the  hour  of  its  greatest  peril,  "the  last  full  measure 
of  devotion." 


86 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


We  have  long  since  linked  their  names  with  the  heroes  of 
the  Revolution,  and  on  the  recurrence  of  Memorial  Day  we 
decorate  with  equal  honors  the  graves  of  each. 

Let  us  hope,  Mr.  President,  that  when  the  300th  anniver- 
sary of  the  birth  of  the  town  shall  be  celebrated,  those  who 
engage  in  it  will  have  no  occasion  to  take  note  of  wars,  national 
or  otherwise,  but  only  the  blessed  triumphs  of  blessed  peace. 


Scene  in  the  Square. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  87 


Toasts. 


The  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary   of  the  Incorporation  of  Old 

Bridgewater. 

The  ancient  town  of  Bridgewater,  once  the  hunting  ground  of  a  feeble  tribe 
of  native  Indians,  is  now  the  happy  and  prosperous  home  of  more  than  50,000 
people,  whose  combined  estates  are  officially  estimated  at  $40,000,000.  Out  of 
her  original  territory  have  been  carved  from  time  to  time  the  whole  or  a  part  of  at 
'east  three  distinct  populous  and  wealthy  municipalities  of  our  County  of 
Plymouth. 

In  every  great  national  crisis,  both  civic  and  military,  she  has  borne  her  full 
part.  By  the  fame  of  her  soldiers,  her  scholars,  her  merchants  and  artisans,  she 
has  added  lustre  to  the  history  of  the  Commonwealth.  Her  sons  and  daughters 
are  now  assembled  on  this  her  natal  day,  to  do  honor  to  her  fame  and  renew  the 
ties  of  kindred  and  of  home. 

Responded  to  by  Joshua  E.  Crane  of  Bridgewater. 

Mr.  President,  in  rising  to  respond  to  this  sentiment  of 
commemoration,  I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  committee 
in  recognition  of  the  honor  which  they  have  conferred  upon  me 
in  inviting  me  to  speak  for  every  citizen,  and  every  lover  of 
Old  Bridgewater,  and  for  the  several  communities  embraced 
within  its  territorial  limits. 

The  250th  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  Old  Bridge- 
water  is  heralded  in  honor  of  the  founding  of  one  of  the  great 
townships  of  the  colony  of  Plymouth,  which  long  maintained  an 
exalted  place  in  the  annals  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
bequeathed  its  name  to  four  of  its  prosperous  parishes. 

Like  other  towns  of  New  England  endowed  with  ancient 
names  of  the  mother  country,  we  are  able  to  rejoice  in  the  name 
of  Bridgewater,  given  by  its  founders  in  recognition  of  their 
love  for  their  native  land,  and  with  that  of  Taunton,  our  neigh- 
boring city,  in  the  County  of  Bristol,  forming  an  impressive  and 
pleasing  memorial  of  its  settlement  and  its  social  recognition  of 
Somersetshire. 

Mentioned  as  early  as  the  days  of  William  the  Conquerer 
as  the  "Bridge  of  Walter,"  and  possessed  of  a  castle  of  impor- 
tance at  the  beginning  of  the  13th  century,  it  became  a  noted 
stronghold  of  the  Royalists  in  the  days  of  the  commonwealth, 


88  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


but  doomed  to' fall  before  the  parliamentary  force  of  Sir  Thomas 
Fairfax  and  Oliver  Cromwell  in  1645.  ^^  this  eventful  period 
and  in  the  very  year  of  its  conquest  the  grant  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  to  the  men  of  Duxbury  prepared  the  way  for  the 
beginnings  of  the  new  English  Bridgewater,  which  is  declared 
in  the  Bridgewater  Monitor  by  Increase  and  Cotton  Mather, 
"has  been  a  town  favored  of  God.  Yea,  some  favors  of  Heaven 
unto  it  have  indeed  been  distinguishing.  It  was  planted  a 
noble  vine,  and  may  no  more  of  the  text  from  whence  this 
phrase  is  borrowed  ever  be  applied  unto  it.  The  first  planters 
of  it  were  a  set  of  people  who  made  religion  their  main  interest, 
and  it  became  their  glory." 

We  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  such  a  record  of  godly  and 
heroic  ancestors,  whose  consecrated  hearts  and  sinewy  strength 
in  the  fervor  of  a  primitive  age  gave  marked  vitality  to  their 
lofty  purposes  and  achievements  for  the  maintenance  of 
spiritual  liberty  in  the  colony,  and  defended  its  welfare  with 
indomitable  courage  and  constancy  through  the  memorable 
struggles  of  a  later  century. 

We  rejoice  today  in  the  privilege  of  commemorating  the 
fame  of  all  whose  names  are  emblazoned  on  our  escutcheon, 
and  we  glory  in  the  spirit  of  achievement  which  adorns  the 
record  of  their  lives. 

The  several  independent  communities  bearing  the  name  of 
Bridgewater  and  the  city  of  Brockton,  with  the  remarkable 
changes  of  the  years,  are  not  the  towns  of  fifty  years  ago. 
Those  living  today  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  struggles  and 
the  deeds  of  former  generations  which  have  been  suffered  and 
accomplished  in  their  behalf.  The  memory  of  the  fathers 
should  be  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  the  children,  and  should  be 
revered  in  every  school  and  at  every  fireside.  "Let  Thy  work, 
O  Lord,  appear  to  Thy  servants  and  Thy  glory  to  their  off- 
spring "  May  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us,  and 
the  work  of  our  hands,  establish  Thou  it,  that  we  in  turn  may 
preserve  unimpaired  the  dignity  and  honor  of  our  inheritance, 
and  transmit  to  our  posterity  the  record  of  our  citizenship, 
characterized  by  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  ideals  of  the 
founders  of  the  colony  for  social  and  moral  advancement  and 


OLD     BRIDGE  WATER  89 


for  the  firmer  establishment  of  the  vital  principles  of  Christian 
fellowship  and  brotherhood  throughout  our  state  and  country. 


Responded  to  by  Mrs.   Lysander    F.   Gurney  of    Brockton. 

The  history  of  a  town  is  nothing  less  than  a  collective 
history  of  the  people  and  localities  comprising  that  town,  and  in 
response  to  the  toast,  "The  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Old  Bridgewater,"  I  have 
been  invited  to  give  my  paper.  A  brief  history  of  the  early 
settlers,  the  habits,  customs,  educational  ideas,  religion,  etc.,  of 
our  ancestors,  who  bred  and  nurtured  the  patriotism  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  as  well  as  the  staunch  and  heroic  principles 
illustrated  in  their  lives,  although  a  theme  with  which  we  are 
all  familiar,  yet  reiteration  fixes  in  the  mind,  and  a  repetition  of 
some  of  the  facts  may  not  be  without  profit  and  interest. 

Old  Bridgewater  in  Somersetshire,  England,  whence  comes 
our  name,  Bridgewater,  is  a  prosperous  town  of  about  15,000 
inhabitants,  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Parnel  river.  The 
town  is  compactly  built  like  most  old  English  towns,  as  they 
were  walled  around  for  safety  in  turbulent  times,  and  so  were 
necessarily  crowded  together.  The  river  flows  through  the 
center  of  the  town,  across  which  are  a  railroad  and  highway 
bridge,  uniting  its  two  sections.  The  principal  church  is  the 
ancient  Episcopal  one  of  St.  Mary's,  the  established  church  of 
England.  . 

English  Taunton  is  a  large  town  about  ten  miles  southwest 
of  Bridgewater,  and  these  names,  with  many  others,  were 
lovingly  transplanted  by  our  ancestors,  that  their  homes  in  this 
country  might  remind  them  of  their  old  homes  in  the  mother- 
land. 

The  shares  of  the  original  proprietors  numbered  fifty-four, 
to  which  two  more  were  added,  one  to  the  Rev.  James  Keith 
and  one  to  Deacon  Samuel  Edson.  Of  these  it  may  be  of 
interest  that  fifteen,  including  the  two  named,  were  lineal 
ancestors  of  the  writer.  Of  these  fifty-six  purchasers,  not  more 
than  one-third  actually  removed  from  Old  Duxbury  and  became 


go  aSOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


permanent  settlers,  and  of  these  eighteen,  eleven  were  my  lineal 
ancestors,  and  I  probably  speak  for  others  here  today,  when  we 
claim  to  be  called  descendants  of  the  old  families  of  Bridge- 
water. 

Each  settler  had  at  first  a  grant  of  six  acres  on  the  town 
river,  and  these  lots  were  taken  up  at  what  is  now  West  Bridge- 
water,  and  there  the  first  houses  were  built  and  improvements 
made.  The  lots  were  contiguous  and  the  settlement  compact, 
with  a  view  to  mutual  protection  and  defence  against  the 
Indians. 

The  outermost  mile  around  the  outside  of  the  purchase  was 
laid  out  in  1683,  into  four  great  divisions,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  settlement,  called  the  East,  West,  North,  South  precincts. 

For  twelve  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  in  1620, 
Plymouth  was  the  only  town  in  the  colony.  A  few  small  settle- 
ments gradually  grew  up  along  the  coast,  among  them  Duxbury, 
which  was  incorporated  in  1632. 

To  the  east  of  Narragansett  Bay,  Taunton  was  settled  in 
1637,  but  the  higher  land  between  Plymouth  and  Taunton 
remained  the  forest  home  of  the  Indians,  whose  chief  was 
Massasoit,  later  known  as  Ousamequin,  the  hospitable  savage, 
who  had  befriended  the  first  settlers  on  the  coast. 

In  1645  Miles  Standish,  with  others,  received  permission  to 
buy  of  the  Indians  in  the  wilderness  about  sixty  square  miles  as 
compensation  for  land  taken  from  Duxbury  when  Marshfield 
was  made  a  town,  and  in  1649  ^  deed  was  signed  by  Massasoit, 
on  Sachem's  Rock,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  purchase,  the 
price  paid  being  seven  coats,  nine  hatchets,  eight  hoes,  twenty 
knives,  four  moose  skins  and  ten  and  one-half  yards  of  cotton. 

The  deed  was  signed  on  the  part  of  the  colonists  by  Miles 
Standish,  Samuel  Nash  and  Constant  Southworth. 

This  tract  was  first  called  Duxbury  New  Plantation,  but  in 
1656  it  was  incorporated  as  the  town  of  Bridgewater,  and  was 
the  first  town  settled  away  from  the  coast  within  the  Old 
Colony  limits. 

In  this  year,  1S56,  John  Cary  was  chosen  constable — the 
first  ofificer  chosen  in  the  town.  In  May  of  the  next  year  the 
officers  elected  were  John  Willis,  deputy  ;  Arthur  Harris  and 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  9 1 


John  Howard,  surveyors  of  highways  ;  John  Gary,  clerk.  The 
office  of  constable  was  of  high  reputation,  and  as  in  old  Saxon 
times,  so  now,  it  was  intended  that  only  those  should  fill  it  who 
were  honest  and  able  men,  both  in  body  and  estate,  and  not  of 
the  meaner  sort. 

For  nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  town  meetings 
were  held  in  what  is  now  West  Bridgewater,  the  old  center  of 
the  town,  and  for  more  than  fifty  years  all  attended  church  in 
the  same  place,  until  the  town  was  divided  into  parishes,  and 
churches  were  built  in  the  different  precincts. 

In  1675,  at  the  time  of  King  Philip's  War,  there  were  only 
sixty-four  men  over  nineteen  years  of  age  in  the  settlement.  In 
1775  there  was  a  population  of  880.  The  first  meeting  house 
built  in  the  West  precinct  in  1661  was  near  the  site  of  the 
Historical  building,  and  the  first  minister  was  Rev.  James 
Keith,  who  remained  over  the  parish  until  his  death  in  1719 
aged  seventy-six  years.  The  second  was  built  in  1764,  where 
the  Soldiers'  monument  now  stands.  The  first  meeting  houses 
in  the  other  precincts  were  built  in  1716,  1721  and  1737,  the 
ministers  serving  a  life  time.  Those  were  long  pastorates  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  present  day,  and  an  ordination  was  a 
rare  occurrence,  so  much  so  that  it  attracted  people  for  miles 
around,  a  procession  with  fife  and  drum  being  features  of  the 
occasion. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  first  settlers  organized  a 
church  before  they  formed  civil  government.  This  shows  the 
spirit  in  which  our  New  England  civilization  was  founded.  In 
1646  the  Massachusetts  colony  re-enacted  the  English  law  com- 
pelling church  attendance,  and  required  a  fine  of  five  shillings 
for  absence  from  church  on  the  Lord's  day,  Thanksgiving  or 
Fast  day,  without  good  cause.  Therefore  everybody  attended 
church  and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the  people  to  go  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  to  meeting. 

The  court  order  was  that  "every  soldier,  bring  his  arms 
fixed  to  meeting  with  six  charges  of  powder  and  shot,  and  if  any 
neglect  or  refuse  to  perform,  he  shall  be  fined  two  shillings  to 
be  gathered  by  the  constables." 

It  is  Sunday  morning  in  Old  Bridgewater,  along  the  green 


92  250TH     ANNIVERSARY 


lanes  and  field  paths  come  the  settlers  in  faniily  groups.  Young 
men  are  carrying  their  best  coats  on  their  arms,  and  young 
women  their  best  shoes  in  their  hands,  to  be  put  on  before 
entering  the  meeting  house.  Some  are  on  horseback,  the  wite 
on  the  pillion  behind  the  husband  and  the  youngest  child  in 
front,  while  the  Squire,  His  Majesty's  "justice  of  the  peace," 
comes  in  a  dusty  chaise,  for  no  man  except  the  minister  is 
considered  his  peer. 

They  enter  by  the  great  door,  which  is  covered  with 
announcements  to  the  public.  Opposite  the  door  is  the  pulpit, 
high  and  formidable.  There  is  a  window  behind  it,  a  sounding 
board  above  it,  and  a  steep  staircase  leading  up  into  it.  When 
the  minister  has  entered  and  shut  the  door  he  is  entirely  lost  to 
sight.  At  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  facing  the  congregation  are 
seated  the  deacons.  The  pews  are  square,  topped  by  balus- 
trades, and  when  the  congregation  is  seated  a  few  heads  only 
are  visible.  The  first  prayer  is  thirty  minutes  long,  all  standing, 
a  psalm  is  then  announced,  the  deacon  standing  on  the  pulpit 
stairs,  lines  off  the  hymn,  the  congregation  joining  in  the 
singing  of  it,  until  all  the  verses  have  been  sung  off.  The 
congregation  rises  for  the  next  prayer.  This  has  a  systematic 
beginning,  middle  and  ending,  taking  in  most  of  the  ancient 
prophets  as  well  as  the  king  and  all  high  officials,  but  the  long 
drawn  end  is  finally  reached,  and  the  congregation  again  settles 
into  the  seats.  The  tall  brass-bound  hour  glass  is  turned  and 
the  minister  will  preach  until  the  sands  have  run  through  it,  and 
it  may  be  necessary  to  turn  it  for  another  run  before  he  reaches 
twelfthly  of  his  discourse,  and  when  the  last  amen  is  reached 
we  can  sympathize  with  the  young  people  when  a  rush  is  made 
for  the  door  and  a  hurried  escape  into  the  open  air. 

The  credit  of  originating  free  schools  is  due  to  our  Pilgrim 
fathers.  At  the  time  they  landed  on  these  shores  two  ideas 
pervaded  their  minds,  viz.  :  freedom  in  religion,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  the  young.  From  earliest  times  the  policy  was  to 
develop  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  to  implant  the  principles 
of  duty.  The  schools  at  first  were  held  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
settlers,  each  section  of  the  precinct  having  the  service  of  the 
master  two  or  three  months  in  the  year. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  93 


The  schoolmaster  boarded  "round  the  rick,"  as  it  was  called- 
He  was  paid  his  salary  sometimes  in  money  and  often  in  mer- 
chandise. There  was  no  standard  to  test  his  skill  as  a  teacher, 
but  generally  the  one  whose  price  was  the  lowest  was  neces- 
sarily esteemed  the  most  skillful,  but  in  spite  of  all  this,  our 
ancestors  grew  up,  with  an  educated  common  sense,  and  with 
principles  of  the  right  sort. 

The  first  houses  were  built  of  logs,  but  after  the  introduc 
tion  of  saw  mills  came  the  one-story  frame  house,  then  the  two- 
story  houses,  slanting  to  one  in  the  rear,  with  large  cellar  for 
the  storage  of  the  products  of  the  farm. 

The  windows  were  of  mica  or  diamond  shaped  glass,  set  in 
tin  or  lead.  It  is  said  that  after  a  site  for  a  home  had  been 
selected,  a  flat  stone  was  chosen  for  the  hearth,  a  chimney 
erected  and  the  house  built  around  it  so  that  the  hearth  stone 
was  literally  the  center  of  the  home.  The  chimneys  were  built 
of  stone  often  occupying  the  entire  side  of  the  house.  Fire- 
places were  so  big  that  the  children  could  sit  inside  them  beside 
the  roaring  fires  and  see  the  stars  shining  in  the  heavens  above. 
A  pole  and  later  anjiron  crane,  on  which  kettles  were  suspended, 
was  used  in  the  fireplaces  for  culinary  purposes  ;  pitch  pine 
knots  for  lighting,  splinters  for  candles,  and  the  tinder  box  for 
matches.  The  breakfast  was  usually  of  bean  or  pea  porridge, 
with  rye  or  Indian  meal  bread  ;  dinner  of  boiled  salt  meat  or 
pork,  with  vegetables,  and  baked  or  boiled  puddings,  made  of 
Indian  meal.  The  dishes  were  first  wooden,  then  pewter  and 
later  came  crockery  and  earthenware.  Rising  and  retiring  early 
were  universal,  and  the  boys  and  girls  were  early  taught  to 
work,  to  make  the  most  of  life  and  to  apply  it  to  some  useful 
purpose,  none  being  allowed  to  waste  it  in  idleness  or  dissipa- 
tion. 

I  will  mention  a  few  distinguished  sons  of  Old  Bridgewater 
(not  exhaustive  by  any  means.)  First  comes  one  with  a  national 
reputation,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet,  whose  great  grand- 
father, Ichabod  Bryant,  and  his  wife  ,Ruth,  came  to  West 
Bridgewater  in  1745.  Later  he  removed  to  North  Bridgewater, 
where  his  son  Philip  married  Silence  Howard  ;  their  son  Peter 
was  a  physician,  who  settled    in  Cummington,  and    married  a 


94  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


daughter  of  Ebenzer  Snell,  and  their  son  was  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  of  whom  the  Bridgewaters  are  justly  proud. 

Of  governors  we  have  three  descendants  of  John  Wash- 
burn (an  original  proprietor,)  who  have  been  governors  of  three 
different  states,  also  Gov.  Marcus  Morton  and  others,  besides 
many  lieutenant-governors.  Many  clergymen  have  called 
Bridgewater  their  native  town.  Among  those  best  known  to 
us  are  Rev.  Jonas  Perkins,  Rev.  David  Brigham,  Rev.  Thomas, 
Rev.  Bailes  Sanford  Crafts,  Rev.  Abel  Packard,  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Gay  and  many  others.  It  is  recorded  that  between  the  years  of 
1745  and  1838  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  young  men  from 
Bridgewater  graduated  from  the  different  colleges,  of  whom 
fifty-one  were  clergymen.  Of  senators  there  is  a  long  list, 
which  includes  among  many  others  Hon.  B.  W.  Harris,  his  son, 
Hon.  Robert,  Hou.  and  Judge  J.  R.  Perkins,  Hon.  and  Judge 
Marcus  Morton,  Hon.  Jesse  Perkins,  Hon.  Eliot  Whitman  and 
Hon.  Oliver  Ames,  besides  Hon.  Nahum  Mitchell,  and  Bradford 
Kingman,  our  historians,  of  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
Mitchell's  history  of  Bridgewater  and  Kingman's  history  of 
North  Bridgewater,  besides  other  contributions.  The  military 
record  is  interesting.  We  find  in  the  Revolutionary  War 
Major  Eliphalet  Gary,  Maj.  James  Allen,  Col.  Edward  Mitchell, 
Col.  Abram  Washburn,  Col.  Simeon  Cary,  Gen.  Sylvanus 
Lazell,  Capt.  Ezra  Kingman,  Israel  Keith,  Adjt.-Gen.  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  scores  of  others.  I  would  like  to  see  compiled  a 
full  list  of  the  prominent  and  influential  descendants  of  the  old 
settlers  of  Bridgewater. 

In  these  days  of  the  bustling  present,  when  the  old  is  fast 
vanishing  before  the  new,  and  when  much  of  the  history  and 
romance  of  the  past  is  being  covered  beneath  modern  changes 
and  improvements,  such  a  day  as  this  we  are  celebrating,  brings 
back  the  descendants  of  the  old  settlers  to  their  native  heath, 
and  giving  pause  in  their  busy  life,  takes  them  back  to  the 
simple  and  unpretentious  past  with  its  homely  belongings,  that 
they  may  recognize  once  again,  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and 
self-denial,  underlying  the  characters  of  those  who  have  made  of 
us  a  sreat  nation. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  95 


The   Clergy. 


The  Cause  of  Religion  was  the  early,  as  it  has  been  the  later  care,  of  the 
people  of  this  ancient  town.  The  distinguished  divines  :  The  two  Anglers  of  the 
East ;  Keith,  Perkins  and  Reed  of  the  West ;  Allen,  Shaw  and  Sanger  of  the 
South  ;  Porter,  Meach  and  Huntington  of  the  North,  who  were  the  earliest 
ministers  of  God  in  their  respective  parishes,  cast  their  lot  with  the  poor  people  of 
their  communities,  receiving  only  the  most  meagre  compensation  for  their  pious 
services.  They  have  been  succeeded  by  a  long  line  of  distinguished  and  earnest 
preachers,  who  have  advanced  the  cause  of  piety  as  much  by  the  purity  of  their 
lives  as  by  their  words  of  exhortation. 

Responded    to  by    Rev.   Howard    Gary    Dunham    of   West 

Bridgewater. 

Mr.  President  : — The  sentiment  just  read  suggests  a  similar 
one  made  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago  :  "The  New  English 
Bridgewater  has  been  a  town  favored  of  God ;  yea,  and  some 
favors  of  heaven  unto  it  have  indeed  been  distinguishing."  So 
wrote  those  famous  old  Puritan  divines  Increase  and  Cotton 
Mather,  in  their  preface  to  "Bridgewater's  Monitor,"  a  sermon 
by  the  Rev.  James  Keith,  and  we  who  have  gathered  here  today 
to  thank  God  for  those  favors,  echo  and  re-echo  their  lofty 
sentiments. 

Among  those  "distinguishing"  favors  from  on  High  none 
will  gainsay  that  some  of  the  most  splendid  have  been  the 
character  and  service  of  the  clergy.  Here  in  the  First  Parish 
of  the  ancient  town  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  magni- 
ficent records  to  be  found  anywhere  in  all  history.  The  first 
three  ministers  settled  here  served  the  astonishingly  long  period 
of  over  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  years. 

Each  was  a  man  of  lofty  commanding  character. 

Each  was  earnestly  devoted  to  the  service  of  God. 

Each  was  highly  respected  and  beloved. 

Each  was  a  college  graduate. 

Each  began  and  continued  his  ministry  here. 

Each  died  here  in  harness  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

The  first  served  some  fifty-six  years. 

The  second  nearly  sixty-two  years. 


96  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


And  the  third  over  fifty  years,  nearly  ten  of  which  he  was 
entirely  blind. 

James  Keith,  Daniel  Perkins  and  John  Reed  form  a  golden 
trio  of  historic  names  which  no  lover  of  Old  Bridgewater  will 
ever  let  die. 

Picture  to  the  mind's  eye  the  striking  scene  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  history,  when  that  young  Scotch  student,  a  lad 
fresh  from  Aberdeen,  barely  twenty  years  of  age,  came  up  this 
river,  and  on  yon  famous  rock  by  the  river's  bank  preached  to 
these  people  in  the  wilderness  from  the  text,  "Behold,  I  cannot 
speak,  for  I  am  a  child,"  (Jeremiah  i,  6.)  And  yet  this  James 
Keith  did  speak  so  well  and  ably,  and  continued  so  to  speak  in 
behalf  of  God,  justice,  mercy  and  temperance,  that  they  kept 
him  here  till  that  tongue  could  speak  no  more,  and  he  left  a 
name  and  reputation  that  would  do  honor  to  any  minister  that 
ever  lived. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Perkins,  the  second  minister  of  this  parish, 
who  lived  to  be  86  years  of  age,  was  likewise  a  man  cast  in  the 
grand,  heroic,  Puritan  mold. 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  Louisburg  reached  here  late  one 
night.  Those  who  heard  it  deemed  it  their  duty  to  inform 
Minister  Perkins  at  once,  and  arrange  for  a  religious  service  of 
thanksgiving.  The  doughty  Daniel  told  them  that  if  they 
could  furnish  him  that  night  with  tallow  dips  he  would  have  the 
sermon  ready  by  next  morning.  A  splendid  great  hall  honors 
his  memory  at  Harvard  University. 

Of  the  third  minister  of  this  parish,  the  Rev.  John  Reed, 
you  all  know  something.  A  broad-minded  man  of  all-round 
ability,  the  honored  member  of  Congress  from  this  district,  the 
friend  of  Washington,  at  whose  Sunday  table  he  was  wont  to  be 
asked  by  that  great  man  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing,  the 
courageous  minister  who,  for  years,  read  service,  prayer  book  in 
hand,  though  totally  blind.  My  venerable  mother  sat  under  his 
preaching  for  years  and  remembers  when  he  was  led  into  church 
for  the  first  time  after  losing  his  sight.  At  this  dinner  fifty 
years  ago,  the  Hon.  William  Baylies,  Dr.  Reed's  friend  and 
parishioner,  paid  to  his  memory  a  beautiful  and  touching  tribute, 
while  one  of  the  most  marked  passages  of  the  youthful  poet  of 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER 


97 


that  day  alluded  to  his  honored  grandfather  as  having  gone  to 
those  happy  realms 

Where  the  blind  receive  their  sight. 

In  addition  to  the  remarkable  clergy  of  the  First  Parish, 
each  of  the  other  parishes,  which  were  m  time  set  off,  was 
blessed  with  a  worthy  ministry.  The  Rev.  John  Shaw,  the 
second  minister  of  the  Second  or  South  Parish,  a  Harvard 
graduate,  and  a  much  respected  and  beloved  man,  preached  for 
them  nearly  sixty  years.  His  grandson,  the  Hon.  John  A. 
Shaw,  presided  here  fifty  years  ago. 

Rev.  John  Angier,  the  first  minister  of  the  Third  or  East 
Parish,  another  Harvard  graduate,  gave  them  a  devoted  service 
of  sixty-two  and  one-half  years. 

Rev.  John  Porter,  the  first  minister  of  the  Fourth  or  North 
Parish,  preached  more  than  sixty-one  years.  Bridgewater  has 
indeed  been  blessed  in  her  clergy.  They  have  been,  as  a  rule, 
noble,  enlightened  and  progressive  men.  Experience  soon 
taught  them,  and  through  them  our  fathers  here  in  Bridge- 
water,  that — 

Through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 

And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  broadened  with  the  process  of  the  sons. 

And  now  for  long  years  there  has  been  welcomed  and  respected 
in  the  territory  of  Old  Bridgewater  the  ministers  and  people  of 
every  religious  creed  and  belief,  provided  only  that  their  faith 
was  honest  and  reverent,  and  their  lives  true  and  faithful. 

There  is  one  raligious  feature  that  is  unique  in  the  territory 
of  Old  Bridgewater,  and  unlike  any  other  town  in  the  world, 
unless  it  be  the  city  of  London.  Of  this  I  will  speak  briefly 
and  then  leave  the  rest  of  this  great  subject  to  my  distinguished 
colleagues. 

The  territory  purchased  from  Massasoit  on  Sachem's  Rock 
has  had  six  societies  of  the  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
commonly  known  as  Swedenborgian,  four  of  which  are  now  in 
active  and  successful  service.  The  question  is  often  asked. 
"How  came  this  about  .?"  It  is  to  be  directly  accounted  for  by 
a  famous  heresy  trial  which  was  held  on  the  hill  at  Abington  in 
1820,  where  an  able,  respected  and  beloved  clergyman,  the  Rev. 
Holland  Weeks,  was  dismissed  from  the  Congregational  church 


98  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


for  holding  the  views  taught  by  Emanuel  Swedenborg.  The 
interest  aroused  by  that  trial,  and  the  high  character  of  the  man 
tried,  led  many  earnest  minds  in  all  this  section  to  investigate 
for  themselves  the  teachings  of  Swedenborg,  with  the  result 
which  you  all  know. 

Permit  me  to  say  that  I  remember  well  the  celebration  of 
fifty  years  ago,  and  many  of  those  who  participated  therein. 
Also  that  I  count  it  a  rare  pleasure  that  while  last  year  it  was 
given  me  to  have  to  do  with  the  erection  here  of  a  monument 
to  John  Gary,  an  ancestor  of  mine,  who  was  the  first  officer  of 
Old  Bridgewater,  it  has  been  given  me  today  to  speak  of  the 
ancient    clergy,  and    so    of   another   ancestor,  the  Rev.  James 


Keith,  the  first  minister. 


Responded  to  by  Rev.  Julian  S.  Wadsworth  of    Brockton. 

We  are  today  with  becoming  humility  in  the  presence  of 
our  ecclesiastical  forefathers.  Whatever  has  been  gained  in  our 
descent  from  them,  as  clergymen,  we  have  lost  somewhat. 

Those  were  the  days  when  the  people  gave  deference  to 
the  minister.  His  voice  was  heard  with  authority  not  only  in 
the  meeting  house,  but  in  the  town  meeting  as  well.  As  we 
have  heard  today,  a  very  large  part  of  the  foundations  of  our 
town  was  laid  by  the  venerable  James  Keith,  the  scholarly 
Zedekiah  Sanger  and  the  beloved  John  Porter.  Nor  was  it 
thought  that  they  were  "meddling"  with  things  which  did  not 
belong  to  them.  We  as  clergymen  today  are  happy  in  living 
here  where  they  were  so  highly  revered.  A  faint  trace  of  the 
prestige  which  they  enjoyed  is  still  discerned  here  in  New  Eng- 
land. As  was  remarked  by  a  Westerner,  "The  minister  in  New 
England  is  as  good  as  anybody,  while  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  anybody  is  as  good  as  the  minister."  This  accounts  for 
so  many  western  ministers  liking  to  come  to  New  England. 

But  truly,  it  must  have  been  with  a  consciousness  of  their 
power  that  the  ministers  felt  the  support  of  the  town  meeting. 
In  the  matter  of  salary,  it  was  then  a  vote  of  the  town,  and  not 
dependent  upon  the  voluntary  contribution  of  a  few.      Think  of 


OLD   BRIDGEWATER  99 


the  settlement  which  the  town  made  with  its  first  minister. 
"A  double  houselot,  including  twelve  acres  of  land,  with  a  good 
house  built  on  it.  A  whole  share  in  the  original  proprietorship 
of  the  land  of  the  town  with  forty  pounds  as  annual  salary  and 
other  provisions." 

About  twenty  years  later  the  salary  was  increased  to  fifty 
pounds  with  thirty  cords  of  wood  added.  The  town  as  such  was 
generous  in  those  days.  Thoreau  speaks  of  spending  some  time 
in  Bridgewater,  and  in  his  reminiscences  of  Cape  Cod,  speaks  of 
one  town  which  voted  in  1662  to  set  apart  for  the  support  of  the 
ministry  a  portion  of  every  whale  which  should  be  cast  upon  the 
shore.  There  was  sage  propriety  in  thus  leaving  the  support  of 
the  ministers  to  Providence,  since  God  was  the  sole  ruler  of  the 
storms,  and  they  were  His  servants,  surely  He  would  provide 
for  His  own.  But  think  of  the  ministers,  notwithstanding  this 
generous  vote  of  the  town,  sitting  on  the  cliffs,  during  the 
storm,  watching  the  shore  anxiously  for  these  providential  per- 
quisites. Then,  too,  the  town  in  those  days  of  the  "Old 
Lights"  aided  the  ministers  further  by  enforcing  with  law  their 
teachings  of  orthodoxy. 

In  1665  a  law  was  passed  inflicting  corporal  punishment  on 
"all  persons  residing  in  the  towns  of  this  government  who  deny 
Scripture."  Think  of  the  confidence  with  which  a  minister  of 
those  days  might  speak,  knowing  that  his  hearers  would  be 
whipped  until  they  were  constrained  to  confess  that  they 
believed  his  interpretation  of  the  Bible. 

The  town  also  aided  in  keeping  up  the  attendance  at 
church.  A  law  was  passed  that  "all  persons  who  stood  outside 
the  meeting  house  during  the  time  of  service  should  sit  in  the 
stocks."  Think  of  what  an  assistance  this  must  have  been  in 
keeping  the  pews  filled,  since  the  minister  had  only  to  make  his 
sermon  less  uncomfortable  to  the  one  sitting  in  the  meeting 
house  on  Sunday  to  sitting  in  the  public  stocks  on  the  morrow. 
The  clergyman's  nightmare  of  empty  pews  need  never  have 
troubled  our  forefathers  in  the  ministry. 

True,  sometimes  it  happened  that  his  authority  was  ques- 
tioned. This  was  in  the  time  of  the  waning  of  the  "Old 
Lights"  and  the  coming  of   the  "New."     The  New    England 


25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Chronicler  in  1723  gives  an  account  of  a  disorder  in  the  church 
in  South  Braintree,  in  which  Rev.  Mr.  Miles  suspended  eight  of 
his  members  because  they  insisted  upon  singing  by  note  and 
not  by  rote  as  had  been  ordered  by  the  council.  But  the 
embarrassment  of  this  minister,  who  had  presumed  upon  his 
authority,  was  great  when  these  suspended  members  were  rein- 
stated and  it  was  voted  "that  the  congregation  hereafter  would 
sing  by  note  and  by  rote  alternately,  for  the  satisfaction  of  both 
parties." 

Think  of  one  of  us  attempting  to  suspend  a  member 
because  he  will  persist  in  singing  in  the  meeting  by  note,  or 
with  any  other  new  style  of  inflection  of  the  voice.  Yes,  we 
have  lost  in  the  descent  some  of  the  ecclesiastic  authority  which 
inherited  in  our  forefathers.  The  gains  have  been  more  than 
the  losses.  The  onerous  support  which  the  town  is  giving 
today  to  the  moral  teaching  of  the  clergy  is  far  better  than  that 
which  any  statute  would  give.  As  the  people  of  God  today  are 
upholding  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  we  may  be  assured  that  the 
Amaleks  of  sin  will  not  prevail  against  the  forces  of  righteous- 
ness. Never  in  the  story  of  our  land  has  the  church  of  the  living 
God  been  more  firmly  held  in  the  intelligent  and  loving  hearts 
of  the  people  than  it  is  at  the  present  time.  Personally  I  would 
rather  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  Old  North  Bridgewater,  in 
this  year  of  grace  1906,  than  be  an  angel. 


Responded  to  by  Rev.  George  B.  Titus  of  Brockton. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  two  words  were  empha- 
sized as  they  are  not  today  ;  these  two  words  are  Distance  and 
Difference. 

Men  spoke  of  the  distances  between  countries,  cities  and 
localities  as  being  thousands,  hundreds  or  scores  of  miles  :  today 
these  distances  are  measured  by  ticks  of  the  clock — New  York 
we  find  to  be  so  many  minutes  from  London  or  other  foreign 
center.  Chicago  is  no  longer  "away  out  West,"  but  we  take 
down  the  receiver  of  our  telephone  and  in  answer  to  the  "Hello !" 
of  somebody  we  find  that  city  at  our  elbow.     We  whisper  our 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  fOl 


message  of  business,  friendship  or  love,  as  the  case  may  be,  to 
one  who  is  in  a  far  away  place  and  the  answer  is  immediate. 

The  treaty  of  Ghent  was  signed  December  24,  1824,  but  so 
far  away  then  was  Belgium  that  no  word  of  the  peace  treaty 
came  to  this  country  until  very  late  in  the  following  month  ; 
thus  it  came  that  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought  twenty- 
two  days  after  peace  was  declared. 

The  difference  between  then  and  now  is  fitly  illustrated  by 
the  fact  that  two  weeks  ago  my  daughter  wrote  a  message  to 
me  in  her  home  in  Johannesburg,  South  Africa,  in  the  forenoon, 
and  I  read  it  just  after  noon  of  the  same  day,  in  Brockton. 

I  sat  in  the  cars  one  Monday  morning,  bought  the  morning 
paper  and  read  a  sermon  that  was  preached  in  London  the  day 
before — it  had  been  preached,  reported,  despatched,  printed, 
read  in  America  and  forgotten,  probably,  all  within  twenty-four 
hours.  To  the  question  "Where  is  my  Neighbor .?"  We 
answer,  he  is  everywhere,  and  everywhere  is  here. 

Distance  now  has  not  the  meaning  that  it  had  when  Bridge- 
water  was  a  baby  and  when  sailing  vessels  and  stage  coaches 
were  the  swiftest  conveyances  of  commerce  and  communication. 

But  if  distances  have  been  robbed  of  their  terror,  differ- 
ences have  been  deprived  very  largely  of  their  sting. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the  clergy  and  the  church 
seemed  to  think  that  Theology  was  far  more  important  than 
Christianity. 

Great  thorny  hedges  of  Calvinism  and  Arminianism 
separated  men,  but  did  not  hinder  the  interchange  of  fiery 
missiles  between  the  enclosures. 

To  differ  with  the  Puritan  power  meant  persecution,  prison 
and  even,  in  some  instances,  death.  Religious  liberty  was  long 
in  reaching  these  regions ;  toleration  even  was  tardy  in  coming. 
But  when  toleration  came  it  opened  the  way  for  liberty,  the 
liberty  that  leaves  every  man  free  to  think  and  to  worship  as  he 
will,  or  to  leave  worship  altogether  alone. 

Were  some  of  the  old  clergy  of  North  Bridgewater  per- 
mitted to  come  back  and  study  the  present  condition  of  religious 
and  irreligious  bo'iies  in  this  region,  and  were  they  to  report 
their  observations  and  opinions,  I  am  sure  the  report  would  be 


25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


very  interesting  reading. 

But  while  they  might  be  expected  to  note  some  differences 
as  to  faith  and  practice  in  the  churches,  I  am  sure  they  would 
be  obliged  to  mention  this,  that  their  successors  are  magnifying 
points  of  agreement. 

We  do  not  agree  as  to  some  doctrines  and  teachings  but 
we  will  not  quarrel  about  them,  and  we  will  have  fellowship  on 
some  ground  of  Christian  doctrines  and  on  the  broad  platforms 
of  human  brotherhood. 

Ten  thousand  charities  bind  Christians  together  in  fellow- 
ship and  in  a  worship  that  glorifies  God  while  they  feed  the 
hungry,  clothe  the  naked  and  give  shelter  to  the  homeless. 

We  may  differ  as  to  great  doctrines  and  little  dogmas,  but 
we  heartily  agree  in  work  for  young  and  providing  homes  for 
old  people  and  hospitals  and  sanitariums  for  sick  people. 

Truth  never  changes,  but  men  change  in  their  understand- 
ing of  it  and  consequently  in  their  attitude  towards  it  and 
appreciation  of  it. 

The  old  clergy  of  early  days  stood  for  the  church  and  the 
school  house,  all  honor  to  them  ;  their  successors  are  loyal  to 
both  and  to  the  Book  of  Books,  the  Bible.  But  they  have 
changed  their  creeds  and  their  Hymn  Books.  They  still  love 
doctrine,  but  they  preach  duty  ;  they  may  have  lost  the  art  and 
power  of  excommunication,  but  they  know  how  to  say  "Whoso- 
ever will." 

Looking  to  the  past  they  exclaim  "Blessed  are  the  dead 
who  died  in  the  Lord,"  but  facing  the  future  they  pray,  "Let 
there  be  light!' 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


103 


Education. 


The  Cause  of  Free  Education  in  the  Bridgewaters  has  always  been  liberally 
supported  by  their  people.  In  common  with  the  rest  of  the  country  they  have 
discarded  the  crude  methods  of  instruction  of  the  past  and  adopted  those  of  a 
progressive  age. 

Responded    to    by    Albert    G.    Boyden,    Principal    of   State 
Normal  School,  Bridgewater. 

Mr.  Chairman  : — Education,  the  theme  upon  which  you  ask 
me  to  speak,  is  the  broadest  of  all  subjects.  It  includes  the 
unfolding  and  perfecting  of  the  life  of  the  individual,  the  family, 
the  community,  the  State,  the  nation,  the  race.  There  is  time 
on  this  occasion  to  offer  only  a  few  seed  thoughts  without 
elaboration. 

A  laboring  man  was  asked,  "When  is  a  man  educated  .-'" 
He  replied,  "A  man  is  educated  when  he  knows  how  to  get  on 
to  his  job."  To  know  the  aim  of  life  and  how  to  compass  it  is 
the  essential  thing  in  education. 

It  is  pertinent  to  ask,  what  is  every  man's  job  in  life  and 
how  shall  he  get  onto  it  .■"  Living  is  the  one  great  business  of 
every  human  being  in  every  vocation  and  in  every  condition. 
Getting  a  living  is  only  one  element  of  living.  Living  is  the 
conscious  exertion  and  control  of  all  our  powers,  to  the  full 
measure  of  our  ability,  under  the  laws  of  our  being.  Obedience 
to  the  laws  of  our  being  brings  perfection  of  character  ;  disobe- 
dience to  these  laws  brings  degradation  of  the  soul.  Every  law 
of  God  finds  its  reason  in  the  highest  well-being  of  man.  Every 
man's  power  to  serve  himself,  his  fellows,  and  his  Creator  is 
conditional  upon  his  power  of  Self-control,  upon  his  ability  to 
know  and  use  the  truth  concerning  himself  and  his  environ- 
ment. 

Education  as  an  end  is  the  state  in  which  the  person  wills 
to  make  the  best  use  of  himself.  Education  as  a  means  is  the 
influence  which  the  educator  exerts  upon  the  child  to  bring  him 
up  into  the  state  in  which  he  will  make  the  best  use  of  all  his 
power,  physical  and  rational.     Education  in  the  widest  meaning 


I04  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


includes  all  the  influences  which  act  upon  a  person  to  determine 
his  character.  It  includes  all  his  environment,  natural,  human, 
and  divine.  Nature  educates  the  child,  his  fellowmen  educate 
him,  God  educates  him.  Education  begins  u^ith  the  life  and 
continues  through  life.  The  child  depends  upon  his  parent  and 
teacher  until  he  becomes  master  of  himself  and  directs  his  own 
education.  We  are  all  pupils  in  the  great  world  school.  We 
are  educated  by  living. 

The  individual  must  be  educated  as  a  whole.  He  is  so 
constituted  that  he  must  think,  feel,  choose  and  act.  Thinking, 
feeling,  choosing  and  acting  are  co-existent  co-operative 
elements  in  all  our  mental  activity.  They  cannot  be  separated 
in  education.  The  whole  boy  lives  at  home,  goes  to  school, 
goes  into  his  games,  and  the  whole  man  goes  into  all  his  indivi- 
dual, social,  political,  business  and  religious  life.  If  a  man  has 
any  religion  it  pervades  his  whole  life.  We  educate,  or  fail  to 
educate,  the  whole  man.  Training  in  the  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge, which  is  often  considered  the  whole  of  education,  is  only 
a  part  of  education.  The  feelings  are  to  be  disciplined,  the 
passions  are  to  be  restrained  ;  true  and  worthy  motives  are  to 
be  inspired  ;  profound  religious  feeling  is  to  be  instilled  ;  and 
pure  morality  inculcated  under  all  circumstances.  The  sound 
body,  the  vigorous  intellect,  the  refined  taste,  the  regnant  con- 
science, and  the  robust  will  make  the  educated  man. 

Every  person  is  not  only  an  individual,  but  a  fractional 
part  of  that  larger  being  which  we  call  society.  He  is  a  part  of 
the  family,  the  community,  the  State,  the  nation,  and  the  race, 
and  his  education  is  a  matter  of  both  individual  and  public 
interest.  The  life  of  today  involves  the  life  of  the  past.  The 
individual  man  is  the  product  of  the  lives  that  have  flowed 
together  into  his  being  from  the  generations  of  his  ancestors. 
The  education  of  our  fathers  has  given  us  our  family  homes, 
our  schools,  our  churches,  our  institutions,  our  Bridgewaters, 
our  State,  with  our  Governor  "who  knows  how  to  get  onto  his 
job,"  our  nation  with  our  Washington,  our  Lincoln,  our  Grant, 
our  Roosevelt,  and  our  place  as  a  world  power  in  the  human 
race.  Let  it  be  our  constant  endeavor  to  cherish  and  perpet- 
uate all  the  blessings  of  this  rich  inheritance. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  105 


Responded    to    by    Barrett    B.  Russell,    Superintendent    of 
Schools  of  Brockton. 

It  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  It  is  well  to  note  the  recur- 
rence of  these  anniversaries,  for  each  celebration  becomes  a 
milestone  in  history.  And  it  is  well  on  these  occasions  to  note 
something  of  the  privations,  of  the  earnestness,  of  the  goodness, 
and  of  the  farsightedness  of  the  early  settlers. 

When  we  reflect  upon  it,  what  an  undertaking  it  was  to 
subdue  the  forest  and  plant  the  village  ;  to  accept  the  varied 
material  that  has  come  to  this  shore  and  this  town  of  Bridge- 
water  and  carve  out  of  it  three  towns  and  a  city.  What  a  task 
has  been  accomplished  since  the  first  primitive  school  was 
started  to  develop  from  it  the  school  system  of  today  ! 

One  of  the  earliest  efforts  of  the  settlers  of  the  common- 
wealth was  to  make  such  provision  that  "learning  may  not  be 
buried  in  ye  grave  of  ye  fathers,"  and  as  early  as  1642,  only 
twenty-two  years  after  the  landing  at  Plymouth  and  fourteen 
years  after  the  settlement  at  Salem,  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony 
passed  it  first  law  in  regard  to  public  education,  which  required 
that  every  person  should  give  to  his  children  and  apprentices, 
"so  much  learning  as  would  enable  them  to  read  perfectly  the 
English  tongue  ;"  and  in  1647  a  law  was  passed  requiring  town^ 
ships  of  fifty  householders  "to  appoint  one  within  their  town  to 
teach  all  children  as  shall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  read."  The 
wages  were  paid  either  by  the  parents  or  master,  or  by  the 
inhabitants  in  general. 

These  laws  were  the  foundation  of  the  public  school  system 
of  today  and  were  a  great  step  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  two  hundred  years  later,  in  1847,  Lord  McCaulay, 
then  in  the  height  of  his  fame,  said  in  a  speech  in  parliament, 
"Illustrious  forever  in  the  history  were  the  founders  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  *  *  *  They  could  see  noth- 
ing servile  or  degrading  in  the  principle  that  the  state  should 
take  upon  itself  the  charge  of  the  education  of  the  people." 

Dedham  was  the  first  town,  so  far  as  known,  to  establish 
and  maintain  a  school  by  general  tax.  This  it  did  in  1644. 
The  Old    Colony    was  not  far    behind,  for    Mansfield,  a    town 


Io6  250TH   ANNIVERSARY 


organized  in  1642,  took  measures  August  19,  1645,  to  employ  a 
teacher,  and  although  not  made  a  free  school  by  taxation,  as 
was  the  case  in  Dedham,  it  was  nevertheless  a  free  school  by 
contribution. 

This  spirit  probably  pervaded  the  other  towns  in  the 
vicinity,  and  when  Bridgewater  was  set  off  from  Duxbury  in 
1656  it  undoubtedly  brought  that  spirit  with  it.  It  will  be 
interesting  to  go  somewhat  into  detail  about  the  history  of 
education — the  first  school — the  first  teacher — and  I  will  trust 
that  before  the  next  celebration  the  history  of  education  of  Old 
Bridgewater  may  be  written. 

There  was  another  clause  in  that  ancient  law  of  1647  and 
that  was,  that  when  a  town  had  increased  to  one  hundred  fami- 
lies, they  should  "set  up  a  grammar  schoole,  the  master  thereof 
being  able  to  instruct  youth  as"  farr  as  they  may  be  fitted  for 
the  university,"  which  was  no  less  than  Harvard  College,  which 
was  established  in  1636.  The  object  of  this  law  was  not  prim- 
arily to  benefit  the  individual  child,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the 
commonwealth  ;  and  the  claim  that  every  child  has  a  natural 
right  to  an  education  at  the  hands  of  the  commonwealth,  or  the 
town,  is  erroneous.  On  the  contrary,  every  person  who  receives 
an  education  is  under  obligation  to  the  town — an  obligation 
which  can  be  dissolved  only  by  being  a  good  and  useful  citizen. 

This  law  of  1647  became  inoperative  on  account  of  the 
sparsely  settled  condition  of  the  towns.  Just  think  of  a  High 
School  being  established  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
ancient  town  of  Bridgewater,  with  no  steam  cars,  no  street  cars, 
no  streets,  no  roads — not  even  cart  paths  in  many  sections  and 
think  of  the  miles  of  travel  from  the  north  limit  of  Brockton  to 
the  south  limit  of  Bridgewater.  So  this  law  became  inoperative 
and  later  came  the  era  of  the  academy,  the  first  of  which  was 
the  Dummer  Academy  at  Newbury  in  1761.  The  old  town  of 
Bridgewater  was  not  without  its  efforts  in  this  direction,  and 
the  Bridgewater  Academy  was  established  in  1799  and  received 
from  the  commonwealth  a  grant  of  a  half  a  township  of  land  in 
the  Province  of  Maine  which  was  sold  for  ;$5,ooo.  East 
Bridgewater  opened  its  academy  in  18 19.  The  Adelphian  of 
North    Bridgewater    was    established    in    1844   and   the  North 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  107 


Bridgewater  Academy  in  1855.  • 

These  academies  throughout  the  commonwealth  did  a  great 
work,  but  with  the  increase  of  population  and  the  division  of 
the  towns,  and  the  growth  of  the  sentiment  that  education  was 
for  the  benefit  of  the  community,  and  that  the  individual  should 
not  be  at  the  expense  of  it,  but  that  the  town  should  support 
the  schools,  a  new  idea  came  up.  This  was  the  idea  of  a  High 
School — the  revival  of  the  sentiment  of  1647  when  towns  were 
required  to  fit  children  for  the  university. 

But  before  this  the  idea  of  Normal  Schools  had  arisen  and 
Bridgewater,  offering  greater  inducements  than  other  parts  of 
the  county  secured,  by  the  aid  of  its  citizens,  a  school  in  1840. 
This  shows  that  this  old  town  took  great  interest,  not  alone  in 
education,  but  in  the  public  schools.  Later  Howard  Seminary 
of  this  immediate  town  came  into  existence  and  is  doing  most 
excellent  work. 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  iiative  born  residents,  both  men 
and  women,  of  this  ancient  town,  are  and  always  have  been  well 
educated.  I  can  say  this  without  hesitation  because  I  was  not 
born  here,  but  because  of  a  long  residence  in  this  town  of  more 
than  thirty  years  and  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  its  citizens 
and  its  institutions  of  learning.  And  I  think  I  may  say  that 
the  great  mass  of  its  citizens  are  more  highly  educated  than 
they  are  in  any  foreign  country,  and  in  most  parts  of  this  com- 
monwealth similarly  situated,  because  of  its  schools  and  the 
interest  the  citizens  take  in  education.  On  the  city  seal  of  the 
North  Precinct  are  three  well  chosen  words,  "education,  indus- 
try, progess."     They  have  a  significance. 


Medicine. 

Our  surgeons  and  physicians  have  proved  an  honor  to  their  profession,  and 
a  blessing  to  the  afflicted. 

Responded  to  by  Dr.  Ebenezer  Alden  Dyer,  of  Whitman. 

Last    week    Boston    was   gay   with    bunting   in    honor   of 
medicine,  and  badges  of  Hygeia  were  conspicuous  throughout 


Io8  250TH     ANNIVERSARY 


the  city.  Thousands  of  physicians  had  gathered  from  all  parts 
of  our  country  to  attend  the  57th  annual  session  of  the 
American  Medical  Association.  Among  the  decorations  was 
this  sentiment  :  "The  physician  of  today  is  the  unordained 
minister  of  the  gospel.  It  is  his  mission  to  uplift  humanity  and 
restore  the  crippled  hands  to  the  sanctity  of  usefulness." 

On  this  commemorative  occasion  time  will  not  permit  to 
pay  due  tribute  to  those  members  of  the  medical  profession 
whose  lives  were  spent  in  ministrations  of  helpfulness  to  this 
community,  the  State  and  the  nation.  In  the  history  of  Old 
Bridgewater  Dr.  Samuel  Alden  was  the  first  physician  given 
biographical  mention,  and  for  fifty  years  his  life  and  services 
were  devoted  to  the  people  of  this  vicinity. 

In  the  celebration  of  1856  Dr.  Ebenezer  Alden,  whose 
name  I  bear,  was  one  of  the  speakers  ;  fifty  years  later  by  some 
strange  coincidence  I  am  asked  today  to  respond  to  the  same 
sentiment  that  ennobled  their  lives.  How  true  those  immortal 
lines  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  Abraham  Lincoln  : 

"For  we  are  the  same  our  fathers  have  been. 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen. 
We  drink  the  same  stream  and  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run." 

Would  that  their  mantles  might  fall  on  worthier  shoulders  ! 
We  know  not  what  hardshi])s  those  early  pioneers  experienced 
on  their  missions  of  cheer  and  healing  in  a  new  and  scattered 
community. 

Today  there  is  hardly  a  hamlet  in  Massachusetts  so  small 
but  that  a  physician  is  there  willing  and  anxious  to  relive  suffer- 
ing humanity  of  its  ills  and  bills.  Today  so  numerous  and 
common  have  doctors  become  that  oftentimes  it  is  thought 
unnecessary  to  pay  them. 

It  was  in  the  Old  World  that  a  tourist  in  a  remote  place 
asked  a  native  if  there  was  a  doctor  anywhere  about,  and  when 
told  there  was  not,  in  amazement  he  asked  "and  what  do  you  do 
when  taken  suddenly  sick  .-'"  "Oh,"  he  replied,  "we  just  die  a 
natural  death." 

The  advances  that  have  been  made  in  medicine  in  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  seem  almost  incredible,  and  so  skillful 
have  surgeons    become  in    certain    operation   that    you    almost 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  1 09 


wonder  whether  certain  organs  and  parts  of  the  body  are  really 
superfluous  or  to  test  the  skill  of  the  operator.  The  following 
epitaph  is  a  testimonial  to  surgical  thoroughness  :  "To  our 
beloved  father,  who  has  gone  to  join  his  appendix,  his  tonsils, 
his  kidney,  an  arm,  a  leg  and  such  other  parts  of  his  anatomy 
as  his  devoted  surgeon  found  he  must  dispense  with.  He  is  at 
rest  with  the  majority." 

It  is  with  great  pride  that  we  linger  long  over  the  names  of 
that  little  handful  of  men  that  bought  their  rights  on  Sachem 
Rock  and  gave  us  brithright  in  an  honored  ancestry  on  historic 
ground.  Little  thought  that  struggling  band  of  Pilgrims  that 
they  had  found  in  Plymouth  Rock  the  corner  stone  of  a  mighty 
nation  ;  that  such  feeble  beginnings,  nurtured  in  weakness  by 
abiding  faith,  should  bear  the  glorious  fruition  of  our  civil  and 
religious  freedom.  Our  heritage  today  oceans  cannot  bound, 
and  far  isles  of  the  sea  float  the  flag  of  our  freedom. 

America. 

I  love  the  land  that  gave  me  birth, 
Where  Pilgrim  faith  a  refuge  found, 
Where  Puritan  of  sterling  worth 
A  nation  built  on  Freedom's  ground. 
Where'er  I  be,  be  thou  my  star! 
My  horns,  thy  name,  America. 

I  love  the  flag  of  Freedom's  home 
Flung  over  land  from  sea  to  sea, 
Where  exiles  from  all  nations  come 
To  reap  the  fruits  of  liberty. 
Your  portals  flung  wide  open  are 
A  home  for  all,  America. 

I  love  the  names  that  made  thee  great, 
Vast  nation  of  the  western  world ; 
Whom  millions  learn  to  venerate 
Where'er  thy  flag  shall  be  unfurl'd. 
Time  cannot  dim,  no  stain  shall  mar 
Thy  heroes'  fame,  America. 

The  God  of  nations  loves  our  land 
Where  Justice  rules  in  equity  ; 
America  will  always  stand 
For  Union,  Peace  and  Liberty 
Till  lands  and  seas  and  islands  far 
Shall  be  like  thee,  America. 


no  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


The   Law. 


Bridgewater  Men — by  birth  and  adoption — have  from  an  early  period  in  its 
history  adorned  the  profession  of  law  and  graced  some  of  the  highest  judicial 
offices  under  the  government  of  Massachusetts. 

Responded  to  by  Hon.  Warren  A.  Reed  of  Brockton. 

The  compact  made  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  in  the 
harbor  of  Provincetown,  in  1620,  was  prophetic  of  the  declara- 
tion of  independence  in  1776 — one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
later.  The  declaration  of  independence  was  latent  and  involved 
in  the  compact,  but  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  development 
in  such  New  England  commonwealths  as  the  ancient  town  of 
Bridgewater  were  necessary  before  the  full  fruition  of  the  hope 
for  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

The  compact  began  :  "We,  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread 
sovereign  lord,  King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  Eng- 
land." In  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  these  old  New  England 
towns  had  substituted  one  word  therefor — "The  People."  They 
had  learned  to  stand  alone.  They  had  solved  the  problem  of 
human  freedom,  and  of  the  ability  of  the  people  to  govern 
themselves. 

The  world  had  dreamed  of  freedom  before,  but  it  had  been 
only  a  dream.  In  that  short  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  our  forefathers  reached  out  and  caught  the  spirit  of 
liberty,  and  made  it  dwell  among  men. 

Even  today,  we,  their  sons,  are  only  beginning  to  perceive, 
and  but  dimly,  the  stupendous  fact.  Now  and  again  we  catch 
a  glimpse  of  what  liberty  is  to  mean  to  the  world.  We  are 
beginning  to  see  that  this  mighty  nation  is  already  shaping  the 
destiny  of  other  peoples  ;  but  it  will  not  be  for  our  eyes  to  see 
the  real  meaning  of  the  fact  that  freedom  was  born  in  these 
New  England  towns. 

Civil  and  religious  liberty — the  moment  it  was  true  for  this 
ancient  town  in  1776,  it  was  potentially  true  for  all  nations  and 
all  times. 

The  declaration  of  independence  was  a  prime  cause  of  the 
French    Revolution    and  finally,  after   one  hundred  years,  the 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER 


French  Republic.  If  the  ancient  town  of  Bridgewater  and  her 
sisters  had  not  solved  the  problem,  you  would  not  hear  now  the 
demand  for  freedom  of  the  140,000,000  of  the  Russian  people. 
That  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  in  the  experience  of 
these  old  New  England  towns,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  most 
important  in  the  political  history  of  the  world.  That  is  the  real 
reason  why  we  meet  today.  As  we  return  to  our  daily  tasks, 
let  us  ponder  upon  this  mighty  truths — that  this  ground  is 
sacred  to  the  liberty  of  man. 

In  that  formative  and  preparatory  period  between  1620  and 
1776,  we  scrutinize  with  greatest  interest  even  the  common 
history  of  the  people.  Everything  which  contributed,  even  in 
a  small  degree,  becomes  valuable,  because  it  bore  a  part  in  that 
most  important  era. 

Undoubtedly  the  deep  religious  sentiment  of  the  people 
was  the  controlling  factor  in  enabling  them  to  work  out  the 
problem,  but  next  to  that,  the  wise  judges  and  upright  lawyers 
must  have  had  a  great  influence  in  moulding  the  temper  of  the 
people. 

During  all  her  history,  ancient  Bridgewater  has  been  fortu- 
nate in  numbering  among  her  sons  and  her  sons'  sons,  children 
by  birth,  adoption,  or  descendants  from  them,  a  very  large 
number  of  men  bred  to  the  law,  many  of  them  college  graduates, 
who  have  exerted  great  influence  upon  her.  life. 

Among  those  who  were  descendants  of  ancient  Bridge- 
water,  but  who  have  been  gathered  to  their  fathers,  is  a 
considerable  list  of  judges. 

Nahum  Willis  and  Howard  Gary,  both  born  in  Bridgewater, 
Judges  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  in  1807. 

Gov.  Marcus  Morton,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Gourt. 

Gov.  Emery  Washburn. 

Ghief  Justice  Lemuel  Shaw,  Massachusetts'  great  Ghief 
Justice. 

Ezekiel  Whitman,  Ghief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Gourt  of 
Maine. 

Gharles  E.  Forbes,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Gourt. 

George  R  Sanger,  Judge  of  the  Gourt  of  Gommon  Pleas. 

From  the  list  of  those  who  spent  their   lives  among  the 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


people  of  the  ancient  town,  and  did  their  share  in  forming  the 
sentiment  which  made  Bridgewater  what  it  was,  I  can  refer 
specifically  to  but  few,  as  their  lives  are  portrayed  in  the  history 
of  our  county. 

Kilborn  Whitman — Born  at  Bridgewater  1765.  Graduated 
at  Harvard  in  1785.  Died  in  1835.  Was  County  Prosecuting 
Attorney  for  a  period  of  twenty-one  years,  from  181 1  to  1832. 
To  his  ample  knowledge  of  the  law  he  added  a  keen  insight  of 
the  characters  of  men,  their  tangles,  their  tastes,  their  sympa- 
thies, their  temperament  and  prejudices. 

Nahum  Mitchell — Born  at  Bridgewater  in  1769.  Graduated 
at  Harvard  College  1789.  Representative  to  the  General  Court 
for  nine  years.  Member  of  the  eighth  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  Senator  from  Plymouth  County  in  18 13,  and  member 
of  the  Executive  Council  from  1814  to  1820.  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  this  State.  State  treas- 
surer  for  five  years.  He  was  a  man  of  great  industry,  quick- 
ness of  perception,  and  caution,  and  united  to  a  discriminating 
judgment  and  attentiveness  and  precision  of  the  mathemati- 
cian. He  did  well  whatever  he  undertook  and  was  distinguished 
at  the  bar  for  his  sound  learning  and  fair  and  honorable  practice. 
To  his  position  as  leader  of  the  bar,  he  added  that  of  a  patient 
antiquarian  and  thoughtful  historian. 

We  remember  him  as  the  historian  of  Bridgewater  as  well 
as  Chief  Justice.  His  "History  of  Bridgewater"  will  always 
endure  as  a  monument  to  his  memory.  It  was  a  work  of  vast 
labor,  and  was  accomplished  with  great  care,  judgment  and 
accuracy. 

He  filled  a  large  place  in  the  life  of  the  people.  He  was 
easily  the  leader  in  the  public  affairs  of  his  time,  and  helped  to 
mould  the  spirit  of  indepence  and  upright  living  for  which  his 
fellow-townsmen  were  noted. 

William  Baylies — Born  in  1776.  Graduated  at  Brown 
University  in  1795  with  highest  honors.  Settled  in  West 
Bridgewater  in  1799.  Represented  West  Bridgewater  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  1808  to  1820  and  183 1,  and  in  the 
Senate  in  1825  ;  member  of  Congress  in  1813  and  1831.  For 
fifty  years  a  leader   of   the  bar  in  eastern  Massachusetts.     A 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  II3 


consummate  and  forensic  lawyer,  who  is  said  to  have  had 
greater  influence  with  juries  than  any  other  man  of  his  time  in 
Massachusetts.  He  was  well  balanced  and  combined  to  a 
remarkable  degree  the  ability  to  handle  facts  with  clearness  of 
thought,  power  of  analysis,  and  that  perfection  of  judgment 
which  we  are  accustomed  to  call  common  sense.  He  had  a 
sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  and  was  able  by  the  happy  union 
to  accomplish  an  immense  amount  of  work  in  a  long  life  at  the 
bar.  He  possessed  to  a  remarkable  degree  the  confidence  of 
the  community  and  was  a  natural  leader  among  his  fellows. 

Hon.  Aaron  Hobart — Born  in  1787.  Graduated  at  Brown 
University  in  1805.  Died  1858  in  East  Bridgewater,  where  he 
lived  most  of  his  life.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  legal  training, 
great  force  of  character  and  sound  judgment.  He  early  took  a 
leading  position  at  the  Plymouth  bar  and  very  soon  became 
prominently  identified  with  the  political  interests  of  Plymouth 
County.  He  was  Judge  of  Probate  for  Plymouth  County  and 
held  the  office  for  a  long  period. 

Eliab  Whitman — Born  in  East  Bridgewater  in  1788. 
Graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1817.  Died  1861. 
Representative  to  the  General  Court  in  1840  and  1841.  He 
was  a  man  of  severe  integrity.  He  was  not  an  advocate,  rarely 
engaged  in  trials,  but  his  integrity,  punctuality,  diligence  and 
carefulness  brought  him  a  considerable  office  practice.  For 
many  years  he  was  the  only  lawyer  in  North  Bridgewater. 

Williams  Latham — Born  in  East  Bridgewater  in  1803. 
Graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1827.  Died  1883.  In 
equity  and  real  estate  cases  he  had  a  large  practice,  and  his 
professional  life  was  one  of  untiring  industry  and  faithfulness  to 
his  clients,  among  whom  he  was  noted  for  his  fairness  and 
integrity.  He  was  for  many  years  active  as  a  trustee  and  in 
the  settlement  of  estates.  He  never  aspired  to  be  an  orator  or 
to  argue  cases  at  the  bar,  yet  few  lawyers  more  fully  informed 
themselves  so  much  in  detail  concerning  all  possible  ramifica- 
tions of  the  law  and  the  facts.  He  was  a  peacemaker,  not  a 
stirrer  of  strife.  He  abhorred  shams  and  appeared  wholly 
without  guile.  Of  the  strictest  integrity,  he  had  those  qualities 
which  attract  men  and  always  win  appreciation  and  confidence. 


114  25OTH   ANNIVERSARY 


He  was  much  interested  in  antiquarian  research,  genealogical 
and  Indian  history. 

Ellis  Ames — Born  in  1809.  Was  a  student  in  the  office  of 
William  Baylies.  Practiced  law  in  West  Bridgewater  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  'represented  that  town  in  the  Legislature 
from  1S33  to  1836. 

Some  of  us  remember  his  tall,  gaunt  figure — his  massive 
head  covered  with  a  profusion  of  long,  curly  hair,  his  piercing 
eye  and  rugged  and  honest  demeanor. 

His  life  seemed  to  be  a  protest  against  shams  and  hypo- 
crisy. He  was  an  equity  lawyer  of  the  first  class,  while  he  took 
highest  rank  as  a  historian,  a  genealogist  and  antiquarian.  He 
died  in  1884. 

William  Cullen  Bryant — Another  of  the  students  of 
William  Baylies  and  his  life-long  friend  was  William  Cullen 
Bryant. 

Bryant  was  a  descendant  of  North  Bridgewater,  where  his 
father  and  grandfather  were  born.  He  lived  in  North  Bridge- 
water  while  he  studied  law  at  Bridgewater  with  William  Baylies, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Plymouth  County  in  18 15. 

In  the  following  lines  he  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  his  life  in 
the  office  of  William  Baylies,  where  he  scrawled  strange  words 
with  a  barbarous  pen  : 

"O'er  Coke's  black  letter  page, 
Trimming  the  lamp  at  eve,  'tis  mine  to  pore. 
Well  pleased  to  see  the  venerable  sage 
Unlock  his  treasured  wealth  of  legal  lore  ; 
And  I  that  loved  to  trace  the  woods  before, 
And  climb  the  hills  a  playmate  of  the  breeze, 
Have  vowed  to  tune  the  rural  lay  no  more, 
Have  bid  my  useless  classics  sleep  at  ease. 
And  left  the  race  of  bards  to  scribble,  starve  and  freeze." 


Responded  to  by  James  S.  Allen,  Jr.,  of  Brockton. 

Mr.  President,  Mr.  Toastmaster,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 
After  you  have  listened  to  the  eloquent  words  of  the  three 
honored  Judges  of  Courts  of  this  Commonwealth,  all  residents 
of  Old  Bridgewater,  who  have  already  addressed  you,  it  seems 


OLD   BRIDGEWATER  II5 


presumptuous  in  me,  a  mere  three-year-old  on  the  legal  track, 
to  make  any  further  response  to  this  toast. 

Yet,  though  a  novice  in  this  capacity  of  a  representative  of 
the  bar,  I  do  not  feel  a  stranger  here.  Both  my  paternal  and 
maternal  ancestors  settled  in  Bridgewater  before  1700  and  we 
have  been  here  ever  since.  So  may  I  venture  to  speak  today 
as  a  representative  of  the  young  blood  of  the  old  stock,  of  the 
youth  of  this  old  town,  who  are  today  taking  the  first  steps 
along  the  path  so  nobly  blazed  by  those  who  have  gone  before. 

With  what  veneration  do  we  recall  the  names  of  those  who 
in  this  town  have  honored  the  noble  calling  of  the  law.  Fore- 
most, perhaps,  should  be  named  Nahum  Mitchell  of  East 
Bridgewater.  Born  in  1769.  Graduated  from  Harvard  in  1789, 
for  more  than  a  decade  a  Representative  and  a  Senator  in  the 
General  Court,  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  State 
Treasurer,  member  of  Congress,  Justice  and  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  Scholar,  musician, 
historian,  lawyer,  judge  and  statesman ;  for  more  than  fifty 
years  he  was  the  most  prominent  man  in  Plymouth  County. 

Bartholomew  Brown  succeeded  to  his  practice.  A  graduate 
of  Harvard,  he,  too,  was  not  only  a  successful  lawyer,  but  a 
man  of  wide  interests  and  broad  culture  as  well.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  members  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society  of 
Boston,  and  was  for  a  time  its  president. 

He  was  succeeded  in  1826  by  Welcome  Young,  who  was 
born  in  1792  and  graduated  from  Brown  in  18 14.  For  a  genera- 
tion he  had  a  large  practice,  though  not  fond  of  litigation,  and 
it  was  in  partnership  with  him  that  our  beloved  nestor.  Judge 
Benjamin  W.  Harris,  began  his  legal  career  in  this  town. 

Aaron  Hobart  was  another  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of 
East  Bridgewater.  Born  in  1787,  graduating  from  Brown  in 
1805,  he  was  elected  to  Congress  at  the  age  of  thirty-three.  He 
was  a  member  of  that  body  during  the  fiery  debates  leading  up 
to  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Later  in  life  he  was  Judge  of 
Probate  for  this  County. 

In  West  Bridgewater  the  most  famous  name  is  that  of 
William  Baylies.  Born  in  1776,  graduated  from  Brown  in 
1795,  a  member  of  Congress  in  1813  to  1817;  and   1831-1835 


Il6  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


he  was  for  fifty  years  the  leader  of  the  Plymouth  County  bar. 

Other  prominent  West  Bridgewater  lawyers  were  Oakes 
Angler,  John  Reed,  son  of  the  minister  of  the  same  name,  who 
moved  to  the  Cape,  and  from  there  was  elected  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  and  member  of  Congress  ;  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
who  studied  law  with  William  Baylies  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Plymouth  County  bar,  but  who  soon  followed  the  call  of  the 
muse  to  more  congenial  tasks. 

In  Bridgewater  there  was  Williams  Latham,  whom  many 
here  remember.  Born  in  East  Bridgewater  but  practicing  in 
Bridgewater,  he  was  for  over  half  a  century  eminent  as  a 
lawyer,  historian,  lover  of  nature,  and  public- spirited  citizen. 
He  too  was  college  bred. 

There  was  Eliah  Whitman  of  North  Bridgewater  and  Jonas 
R.  Perkins,  whom  so  many  of  you  knew.  There  was  Kilborn 
Whitman,  born  in  Bridgewater,  educated  for  the  ministry,  later 
admitted  to  the  bar  ;  for  twenty-one  years  Prosecuting  Attorney 
for  this  County  ;  and  Ezekiel  Whitman,  who  moved  to  Maine 
aud  became  Chief  Justice  of  its  Supreme  Court  ;  Hosea  King- 
man, so  recently  deceased,  we  must  also  mention,  though  he 
belongs  to  our  own  day.  Surely  the  traditions  established  by 
these  men  can  never  fail  to  inspire  the  lawers  of  these  towns. 

But  what  can  I  say  of  the  lawyer  of  today  .''  The  day  of 
the  country  lawyer  has  passed.  More  and  more  is  law  business 
centering  in  the  large  cities  ;  thither  the  lawyers  are  drawn  by 
its  larger  opportunities  ;  and  they,  in  turn,  draw  even  the 
country  practice  after  them. 

Prior  to  1855,  when  the  population  of  the  three  towns  now 
bearing  the  name  of  Bri^dgewater  v?as  8,000,  about  2,500  less 
than  today,  each  of  these  three  towns  had,  at  least  most  of  the 
time,  one  or  more  lawyers  of  first  class  ability  and  usually  with 
college  training.  Today  I  know  of  but  one  lawyer  whose 
principal  office  is  in  any  of  these  towns.  Brockton,  on  the  other 
hand,  with  its  population  of  about  48,000,  has  forty-three 
lawyers.  Of  these,  however,  only  eight  are  college  graduates. 
And  I  am  not  now  reckoning  the  increasing  number  of  lawyers 
who  reside  in  these  towns  but  practice  in  Boston. 

The  rapid  means  of  travel  has  so  enlarged  the  lawyer's  field 


OLD     BR  I DGE  WATE  R  1 1  y 


of  work  that  it  usually  covers  several  counties,  and  he  may  con- 
duct cases  before  the  courts  of  all  the  counties  in  the  State  as 
easily  as  formerly,  perhaps,  in  his  own  shire  town.  No  less  has 
the  rapidity  with  which  he  can  work  been  increased  by  the  tele- 
phone and  the  typewriter. 

The  nature  of  his  practice  itself  has  changed.  Questions 
growing  out  of  our  complex  business  and  mercantile  life  are 
claiming  first  attention.  The  court  dockets  are  crowded  with 
suits  against  the  big  corporations  for  accidents  arising  from  the 
use  of  modern  machinery  and  of  our  railroads  and  electric  cars. 
The  most  lucrative  field  of  practice  is  possibly  that  of  organizing 
and  directing  the  huge  industrial  corporations  which  characterize 
our  day.  More  and  more  is  the  lawyer  becoming  the  expert 
business  man. 

Whether  Old  Bridgewater  shall  continue  to  bring  forth 
lawyers  equal  in  character,  ability  and  training,  to  the  famous 
men  of  the  past,  Mr.  President,  will,  I  believe,  depend  largely 
upon  the  development  of  the  business  life  of  this  community — 
upon  whether  the  opportunities  offered  here  shall  be  sufficient 
to  keep  the  youth  at  home.  But  whether  here  or  in  some  other 
section  of  our  beloved  country  I  doubt  not  that  from  the  descen- 
dants of  the  Old  Bridgewater  families  there  will  arise  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  lawyers,  jurists  and  statesmen,  who  shall 
be  leaders  in  preserving  and  developing  the  sacred  institutions 
bequeathed  to  us  by  our  fathers. 

Mr.  President,  I  seem  to  hear  the  voice  of  past  ages  chal- 
lenging us,  and  asking  if  the  blood  of  the  Puritans  is  today  as 
virile  and  true  as  in  the  past,  and  naming  as  their  champion, 
that  scion  of  Old  Bridgewater  stock  present  on  the  anniversary 
occasion  fifty  years  ago,  that  greatest  of  Massachusetts'  Chief 
Justices,  that  jurist  with  but  two  or  three  peers  in  American 
history,  whose  name  will  be  known  and  revered  throughout  the 
English-speaking  world  so  long  as  the  system  of  common  law 
prevails — Lemuel  Shaw. 

That  challenge  I  take  up  and  repeat  to  coming  ages  as  I 
name  for  our  champion  that  man  of  this  generation,  recently 
deceased,  sprung  from  the  stock  of  Bridgewater's  first  settlers, 
that  greatest  of  American  diplomats  who  has  safely  guided  our 


Il8  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


nation  in  its  awakening  to  a  conscious  participation  in  world 
politics,  who  has  brought  peace  and  mercy  to  oppressed  races, 
and  who  has  set  for  the  world  the  example  of  applying  between 
the  nations  of  the  earth  the  same  principles  of  honesty,  justice 
and  righteousness  which  he  had  learned  from  his  Puritan  fore- 
fathers— our  late  Secretary  of  State,  John  Hay. 


Our  Business  Men. 


Our  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  have  kept  abreast  with  the  progress  of 
the  age,  and  by  their  skill  and  foresight  have  enriched  themselves  and  their  several 
communities. 

Responded  to  by    Hon.  James   J.  Dowd,  City  Solicitor   of 

Brockton. 

I  was  surprised  at  being  requested  to  respond  to  this  toast, 
because  lawyers,  not  being  directly  concerned  in  the  production 
and  distribution  of  commodities,  are  not  generally  included  in 
the  term  business-men.  Still,  as  a  lawyer,  I  think  that  I  can 
appreciate  as  keenly  as  can  anybody  the  debt  which  we  owe  to 
our  business  men.  Installed  on  a  barren  soil,  the  agricultural 
resources  of  Bridgewater  were  soon  exhausted,  and  with  the 
advent  of  steam  power,  and  the  consequent  competition  with 
the  agricultural  products  of  the  West  and  South,  the  old  town 
should  have  languished  in  poverty  were  it  not  that  its  bold, 
sturdy  manhood  forsook  the  soil  and  entered  the  marts  of  trade. 
The  spirit  of  independence  and  enterprise  which  animated  the 
colonists  has  always  actuated  their  descendants  and  nowhere  in 
this  broad  land  have  the  business  men  been  more  persistent  and 
successful  or  have  accomplished  more  for  their  communities 
than  they  have  in  the  old  town  of  Bridgewater. 

In  the  early  sixties  the  iron  industry  was  started  here,  and 
grew  so  rapidly  and  extended  so  largely  that  in  a  short  time  the 
Bridgewater  Iron  Works  became  known  the  country  over  as  the 


OLD     BRIDGE  WATER  1 19 


largest  and  most  successful  plant  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 
Here  were  accomplished  mechanical  feats  that  were  never 
accomplished  before,  and  during  the  rebellion  much  of  the 
machinery  which  propelled  our  navy  came  from  here,  while  the 
anchors  which  enabled  that  same  navy  to  ride  the  storm  were 
forged  at  the  Bridgewater  Iron  Works. 

It  is  no  discredit  to  our  business  men  that  this  industry 
languished,  for  the  crumbling  walls  and  empty  stacks  all  over 
New  England  amply  attest  the  impotence  of  business  men  to 
stem  the  tide  of  destruction  which  has  befallen  it. 

But  it  is  in  the  shoe  industry  our  business  men  have 
excelled  most.  Forty  years  ago  the  pride  of  every  well  dressed 
man  was  a  pair  of  long  legged  calf  boots,  and,  while  up  in 
Worcester  County  manufacturers  were  making  boots  and 
brogans,  Bridgewater  was  experimenting  with  shoes  and  by  per- 
severance and  skill  she  finally  drove  boots  and  brogans -out  of 
the  market  and  replaced  them  with  her  shapely  and  durable 
shoes.  While  Bridgewater  is  recognized  as  the  cradle  of  the 
shoe  industry,  Brockton,  which  is  within  the  confines  of  the  old 
town,  is  given  the  distinction  of  being  the  largest  producer  of 
men's  fine  shoes  in  the  country.  Brockton  manufacturers  and 
Brockton  shoes  are  known  all  over  the  country.  Fantastic 
names  have  been  given  to  the  products  of  the  different  factories 
and  these  names  have  become  the  household  words  in  every 
home  in  the  land.  The  aid  of  the  printer  has  been  invoked  and 
his  plant  subsidized  at  fabulous  figures  and  the  result  is  that  the 
faces  and  products  of  our  business  men  are  familiar  to  the 
inhabitants  of  every  State  in  the  Union.  The  prosperity  of  our 
business  men  has  brought  prosperity  to  us  all,  and  there  is  no 
like  community  in  the  world  where  the  people  are  better 
housed,  better  clothed,  better  shod  and  better  conditioned  than 
are  the  people  who  live  within  the  confines  of  the  old  town  of 
Bridgewater. 

Our  merchants,  to  be  sure,  have  served  us  honestly  and 
faithfully,  but  they  add  nothing  to  our  wealth.  It  is  to  our  manu- 
facturers that  we  must  continue  to  look  for  our  prosperity. 
They  have  not  failed  us  in  the  past  and  they  will  not  in  the 
future. 


250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


We  should  honor  them  for  what  they  have  done  and  co-op- 
erate with  them  in  the  future,  to  the  end  that  we  may  in  the 
future  attain  to  greater  success  than  we  have  in  the  past  and 
bring  greater  glory  to  the  old  town  of  Bridgewater. 


Our  Adopted  Citizens  and  Their  Children. 


Our  Adopted  Fellow  Citizens  and  Their  Children — Their  love  for  the 
country  of  their  adoption  has  been  attested  by  their  blood  upon  the  battle-fields  of 
the  Republic — and  they  have  earned  their  full  title  to  American  citizenship. 

Responded  to  by  Prof.  F.  H.  Kirmayer,  of  Bridgewater. 

THE    GERMAN-AMERICAN. 

The  number  of  Germans  and  their  descendants  according 
to  reliable  statistics  is  now  a  little  over  thirteen  millions.  The 
population  of  the  United  States  without  the  island  possession 
was  in  1900  seventy-six  millions.  Therefore  the  Germans  have 
quite  a  respectable  representation  here. 

The  Germans  are  much  devoted  to  agriculture,  horticulture 
and  wine  growing,  and  so  we  find  that  the  German  immigrant 
goes  to  those  States  were  farming  is  extensively  carried  on,  as 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  the  States  of  the 
Middle  West,  while  the  mechanics  and  trades  people  and  those 
of  the  learned  professions  settle  in  the  cities  preferably  north 
of  the  37th  Parallel. 

That  the  Germans  are  good  and  thrifty  farmers  can  be 
verified  by  any  one  visiting  their  farms  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  The  skill  of  their  mechanics  may  be  seen  in  any  large 
shop  where  fine  workmanship  is  required  ;  their  high  standing 
in  statesmanship,  in  the  army,  in  philosophy,  in  education 
shows  itself  in  men  like  Schurz,  Sigel,  Muensterberg,  Hanus,  not 
to  mention  many  who  are  distinguished  merchants  and  bankers. 

When  we  examine  the  social  life  of  the  Germans  we  find 
that  he  likes,  wherever  he  may  be,  his  Gemuetlichkeit,  that  is  he 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  I2i 


and  his  friends  go  on  an  evening  to  the  Gasthaus,  Biergarten 
or  Weinstube  to  read  and  discuss  the  news  of  the  day  and  pass 
an  hour  or  two  in  agreeable  conversation.  Here  he  expresses 
his  opinion  freely  and  openly  showing  his  love  of  justice  and 
truth,  his  love  of  the  Vaterland  and  his  hatred  of  all  trickery 
and  fraud.  To  this  same  manner  of  living  he  clings  here  as  he 
did  at  home  giving,  to  his  adopted  country  undying  love  and 
support. 

Before  all  things  the  German  has  respect  for  authority. 
This  is  infused  into  him  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  in  the 
church,  in  his  military  service,  from  which  none  is  exempt 
except  he  be  physically  defective,  or  a  criminal,  or  an  idiot. 
This  military  service  which  is  by  some  people  considered  a 
hardship  for  the  German  boys,  is  the  best  drill  any  young  man 
can  have  for  his  after  life.  Here  he  learns  and  must  practice 
prompt  obedience,  regularity,  cleanliness,  good  bearing  of  the 
body,  regular  exercise  of  body  and  mind  and  respect  for  his 
superiors. 

In  regard  to  the  religious  life  of  the  Germans  much  might 
be  said,  but  this  being  a  subject  many  do  not  like  to  discuss, 
although  it  is  of  vital  consequence,  it  may  be  briefly  stated  that 
the  drift  of  the  Protestants  is  towards  discrediting  the  Bible, 
that  many  pastors  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ,  that  others  turn 
to  Sociology  in  their  sermons  and  so  lead  their  hearers  gradually 
into  Socialism  which  naturally  tends  to  anarchy,  while  the 
Catholics  stand  firm  by  their  old  faith  and  try  to  stem  the  tide 
of  the  Freigeist.  How  much  of  these  tendencies  the  immigrant 
brings  to  these  shores  a  careful  observer  may  readily  detect. 

Should  we  wish  to  know  what  political  preferences  the 
Germans  here  have,  we  would  find  that  the  German  immigrant 
is  a  Democrat  almost  invariably,  carried  away  by  the  name 
Democrat,  which  means  in  Germany  as  it  ought  to  mean  every- 
where, a  man  who  believes  that  the  people  should  rule  and  not 
kings,  emperors,  bosses,  etc.  After  he  has  been  here  for  a 
while  he  may  and  quite  often  does  change  to  become  a  Repub- 
lican, Independent  or  Prohibitionist. 


122  25OTH   ANNIVERSARY 


Responded  to  by  Mr.  John  S.  Kent  of  Brockton. 

IRISH-AMERICAN. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — As  a  descendant 
of  an  Irish-American,  I  am  proud  to  respond  to  the  sentiment 
you  have  proposed.  There  is  nothing  in  their  record  of  citizen- 
ship for  which  we  must  apologize,  and  there  is  much  to  say  in 
praise  of  the  part  they  have  played  in  the  settlement,  develop- 
ment and  progress  of  the  nation  to  which  they  have  sworn 
allegiance. 

From  all  the  countries  of  the  earth  have  been  gathered 
together  here  on  this  Western  Continent,  the  oppressed,  the 
lovers  of  liberty,  the  seekers  atter  truth,  and,  in  one  composite 
body  politic,  has  been  formed  the  American  nation. 

We  are  a  nation  of  immigrants,  and,  comparatively  speak- 
ing, but  a  few  years  separate  the  coming  of  those  of  our 
ancestors  who  landed  at  Plymouth  from  the  Mayflower  and  our 
more  recent  additions  to  citizenship  who  landed  at  East  Boston 
from  a  Cunarder. 

From  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  first  great  immigrant — 
Columbus — down  to  the  present  day,  there  has  been  no  trouble 
in  assimilating  the  peoples  of  all  lands  who  have  come  with  an 
honest  purpose  of  remaining  here  and  assuming  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  citizens,  and  sharing  in  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges guaranteed  them  by  the  Constitution. 

We  need  not  fear  for  our  Republic  while  we  admit  to  these 
shores  those  home-seekers  who  come  with  clean  hearts  and 
clean  minds,  even  though  their  national  characteristics  do  not 
win  our  approval  and  their  forms  of  religious  worship  may  differ 
from  ours.  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  man  with  a  reli- 
gion ;  the  danger  lies  in  the  man  without  one.  An  educational 
test  will  throw  no  safeguard  around  our  people  or  our  institu- 
tions. The  Anarchist  and  agitator  and  criminal  are  not 
ignorant  not  illiterate. 

The  title — "Irish-American" — is  applied  to  a  native  of 
Ireland  when  he  becomes  a  naturalized  American  citizen  ;  when 
he  throws  off  forevei  the  claims  of  a  government,  under  which 
his  people  have  for  centuries  been  oppressed,  and  is  born  anew 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  1 23 


in  a  land  of  hope,  and  opportunity  and  freedom.  He  is  an 
American  from  choice,  fully  sensible  of  the  privileges  he  enjoys, 
jealous  of  his  rights,  and  willing  to  defend  the  flag  and  what  it 
stands  for  with  his  life  if  need  be. 

He  came  to  America  to  escape  the  tyranny  of  an  unjust 
government  at  home,  to  better  his  condition  in  life  and  to 
worship  God  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  a  religion  that 
is  a  part  of  his  life  itself. 

The  same  causes  that  led  the  Pilgrims  to  flee  to  Holland 
and  afterwards  to  Plymouth  led  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Emerald  Isle  to  leave  home  and  friends  and  native  land,  and, 
with  nothing  but  honest  hearts  and  willing  hands  and  a  faith 
sublime  in  its  steadfastness  and  trust,  to  build  here  their  homes 
and  their  altars  and  to  become  an  important  factor  in  establish- 
ing on  this  continent  a  nation  which  has  become  the  leader  of 
all  the  nations  of  the  world. 

It  is  recorded  that  the  first  ship-load  of  Irish  immigrants 
reached  America  in  1630.  More  than  five  millions  have  landed 
here  since. 

At  the  end  of  the  Revolution,  nearly  one-fourth  of  Wash- 
ington's Army  was  Irish.  In  every  war  since — whether  on  land 
or  sea — the  Irish-American  has  done  his  full  share  in  up-hold- 
ing the  principles  of  our  government,  establishing  the  blessings 
of  freedom  and  insuring  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

The  first  Irish  settlers  in  the  Old  Colony  were  not  received 
with  open  arms  by  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims.  They,  who 
had  suffered  so  much  for  the  sake  of  religious  freedom,  were 
not  ready  to  grant  the  boon  to  others.  Almost  the  first  laws 
made  provided  that  Catholics,  Quakers  and  Baptists  should  not 
be  allowed  in  the  Plymouth  settlement. 

Unyielding,  stern,  relentless  were  these  Pilgrim  Fathers. 
Their  rules  of  faith  were  hard  and  unlovely  as  the  rock-bound 
coast  on  which  they  landed.  They  taught  not  mercy  and 
forgiveness,  but  justice  and  exactness  of  the  law.  They  never 
lied  in  bargain  nor  in  promise  ;  they  were  no  hypocrites  ;  they 
looked  men  in  the  face,  clear-eyed,  and  showed  in  every  act  the 
courage  born  of  firm  conviction.  They  had  no  place  for  other 
creeds,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  them  so. 


124  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Small  wonder  then  that  the  Plymouth  Colony  during  the 
first  two  hundred  years  after  its  settlement  saw  little  of  the 
Irish  Catholics,  and  that  those  who  came  to  America  settled  in 
the  Colonies  of  Maryland,'  Virginia  and  other  localities  showing 
a  more  tolerant  spirit. 

The  history  of  the  town  of  Bridgewater,  like  all  the  Old 
Colony  towns,  was  largely  a  history  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  and  the  setting  apart  of  the  North  Parish,  as  North 
Bridgewater  was  called,  was  for  the  greater  convenience  of  the 
people  attending  church. 

In  like  manner,  the  history  of  the  Irish  in  this  section  is  so 
interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  it 
matters  little  which  story  is  told. 

Over  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  Irish  immigrants  were 
Catholic,  and  Catholics  of  no  other  nationality  had  settled  here, 
so  that  in  those  early  days  the  words  Irish  and  Catholic  became 
synonymous. 

Previous  to  1840,  there  were  very  few  Irish  settlers  in  the 
Old  Colony,  and  in  1856,  when  the  first  Catholic  Church  was 
built  in  North  Bridgewater,  there  were  less  than  five  hundred 
Catholics  in  all  the  Bridgewaters. 

They  were  then  the  hewers  of  wood  and  the  drawers  of 
water,  the  farm  hands  and  servants  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  came  to  live.  They  dug  the  ditches,  they  labored  on  the 
roads,  they  built  the  first  railroads,  they  were  among  the  first 
shoemakers  and  worked  early  and  late  in  the  little  shops  and 
laid  the  foundation  for  present  great  industry. 

They  proved  themselves  honest,  industrious,  loyal,  God- 
fearing men  and  women,  and  they  won  the  hearts  of  the  people 
they  had  come  among. 

The  barriers  of  prejudice  and  narrowness  were  removed  ; 
the  eyes  of  their  neighbors  were  opened. 

The  fires  of  passions^  kindled  by  know-nothingism  in  1855, 
died  out  in  the  Civil  War  of  1861,  when  the  Irish-American 
again  proved  his  patriotism,  just  as  A.-P.-A.-ism  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  last  century  was  buried  in  an  ignominious  grave 
when  the  Catholic  soldiers  and  sailors  did  their  full  share  in  for- 
ever ending  the  mis-rule  of  Spain  upon  the  Western  Hemisphere. 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER 


125 


We  will  never  repudiate  our  debt  to  those  noble  men  and 
women,  who  left  family  and  friends  in  the  old  world  and  bravely 
went  forth  to  win  their  way  in  this  land  of  promise  and  enjoy 
the  priceless  blessings  of  liberty. 

Eight  hundred  years  of  oppression  in  their  own  land  had 
not  crushed  their  spirit  nor  soured  their  temper.  They  began 
at  the  bottom  and  laid  for  their  children  a  foundation  for  the 
future  built  upon  industry,  frugality  and  integrity. 

Here  they  could  rise  to  the  full  stature  of  men,  with  no 
tyrannical  government  to  crush  them. 

Their  thirst  for  education  could  be  satisfied.  Here  thrift 
and  economy  could  win  a  reward,  and  their  homes  would  not  be 
held  at  the  mercy  of  rent-grasping  landlords  backed  by  merciless 
laws. 

The  legacy  that  the  Irish-American  has  left  to  his 
posterity  is  a  clear  title  to  the  word  American,  without  qualifi- 
cation nor  limitation,  earned  by  his  record  of  patriotism,  proven 
by  his  unswerving  devotion  to  our  government  and  the  princi- 
ples for  which  it  stands,  and  confirmed  by  the  sacrifices  he  has 
made  on  the  altar  of  freedom. 

We,  who  were  born  on  this  soil,  need  no  hyphenated  title 
to  signify  our  degree  of  citizenship.  We  are  Americans  by 
birth  and  by  every  inspiration  that  seals  our  patriotism  ;  second 
to  none  in  our  love  for  this  land,  its  institutions  and  its  tradi 
tions. 


Duxbury,  the  Mother  Town  of  Bridgewater, 


The  Town  of  Duxbury — the  Mother  Town  of  Old  Bridgewater — we  revere 
her  memory,  and  welcome  her  children  to  the  festivities  of  this  day. 

Responded  to  by  Laurence  Bradford  of  Duxbury. 

Mr.    Chairman,    Ladies    and    Gentlemen  : — When    coming 
here  I  was  in  doubt,  whether   in  my   brief   remarks,  I  would 


12  6  2SOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


speak  of  the  renown  of  our  locality  in  patriotism,  or  in  liberal 
religious  thought,  subjects  concerning  which,  I  am  somewhat 
versed.  Had  the  former  theme  been  chosen  I  need  not  have 
looked  farther  for  the  beginning  of  my  illustrations,  than  to  our 
toast-master,  who  is  a  wounded  medal  of  honor  veteran. 

Duxbury  is  my  ancestral,  while  Rridgewater  was  my  youth- 
ful home.  My  father  was  pastor  of  what  I  thought  till  today 
was  the  first  church  of  the  town, — that  in  Old  Bridgewater, 
so-called,  whose  spire  to  my  childish  eyes  seemed  to  reach  the 
skies.  My  father's  pastorate  was  before  the  fifties,  and  when 
the  Anti-slavery  feeling  ran  high,  and  he  taking  that  side  was 
forced  out  of  his  place, — but  I  lived  to  see  the  statue  of  the 
leader  of  that  cause,  set  up  in  the  city  amid  acclamations, 
where  before  he  had  been  mobbed  in  its  streets. 

All  bitterness,  with  me,  has  passed  away  : — that  was  buried 
on  the  Southern  battlefields,  where  the  Republic  was  again 
made  one.  Pastor  and  parishioner  have  long  since  passed  away, 
I  believe,  to  those  happy  hunting  grounds  that  are  reserved  for 
the  blessed,  and  antagonistic  though  they  were  in  life,  in  death 
are  not  divided. 

The  Church,  I  mean  the  Colonial  one,  as  our  talk  today  is 
of  the  historical,  has  always  stood  for  liberal  ideas,  and  for 
charity  of  belief  and  manners,  ever  from  that  time,  when  the 
old  Governor  invited  the  Catholic  priest  to  dine  with  him,  and 
it  being  Friday,  respected  the  religion  of  his  guest  by  having 
fish,  then  by  following  the  injunction  of  St.  Paul  who  admon- 
ished us  to  "be  courteous." 

Other  localities  have  gone  beyond  us  in  material  pros- 
perity, and  we  have  been  twitted, — that  our  ancient  renown  was 
the  only  thing  of  which  we  could  boast.  The  causes  for  success 
are  often  beyond  the  ken  of  human  knowledge.  I  have  lived  in 
Western  places,  where  the  gifts  of  nature  were  more  bountiful, 
many  times  over  than  with  us,  and  yet  they  had  a  much  less 
prosperity  than  ours  ;  and  we  must  not  forget  what  the  good 
book  says, — that  we  do  not  live  by  bread  alone,  and  throughout 
the  land  the  churches  of  our  bretheren  daily  pray  that  they  may 
be  like  unto  this. 

But  in  the  qualities  first  mentioned,  we  arc  not  denied  an 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  1 27 


excellence,  that  is  honored  in  every  clime  and  in  every  age  ;  so 
let  us  in  the  words  of  Whittier  : 

Hold  to  our  ancient  heritage, 

But  let  the  free  thought  of  the  age, 
Its  strength  and  beauty  add 

To  the  stern  faith  the  fathers  had. 


Massasoit  and  the  Indians. 


Massasoit — the  unfailing  friend  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  He  was  the  owner 
of  the  Bvidgewater  lands,  and  for  a  nominal  consideration  conveyed  them  to  the 
men  of  Duxbury. 

We  know  not  his  resting  place,  but  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims,  long 
since  erected  in  their  hearts,  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

Responded  to  by  Rev.   Charles  Edward  Stowe  of 
Bridgewater. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Pilgrims  desired  to  deal  fairly  with  the 
Indians,  as  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  fact  that  all  the  laws 
passed  by  the  General  Court  for  the  regulation  of  the  sale  of 
lands  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  were  for  the  protection  of  the 
latter.  No  land  could  be  purchased  from  them  without  permis- 
sion, and  careful  investigation. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Pilgrims  on  landing  was  to 
appropriate  to  their  own  use  certain  stores  of  Indian  corn  and 
beans,  but  with  the  firm  determination  to  pay  for  the  same 
when  opportunity  should  offer  which,  as  Bradford  adds,  was  in 
about  six  months. 

March  i6,  1621,  an  Indian  named  Samoset  who  had  learned 
to  speak  English  brokenly  came  into  the  settlement  crying 
"Welcome  Englishmen,  welcome  Englishmen."  He  informed 
them  that  the  place  where  they  had  settled  was  known  as 
Patuxet,  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  had  been  swept  away  by 
the  plague,  and  that  not  man,  woman  or  child  remained  to  lay 
claim  to  it. 


128  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Shortly  afterwards  he  returned  accompanied  by  another 
Indian  named  Squanto  who  had  been  kidnapped  and  taken  to 
England  by  an  adventurer  named  Hunt  in  1614,  and  after  many 
adventures  had  found  his  way  back  to  New  England.  He  said 
that  the  great  king  of  the  country,  Massasoit,  was  near  at  hand 
and  would  like  to  treat  with  the  governor. 

Shortly  after  this  Massasiot  appeared  on  the  top  of  a 
neighboring  hill  with  about  fifty  followers.  Edward  Winslow 
was  sent  to  meet  him  bearing  presents  and  after  some  parleying 
he  was  held  as  a  hostage  in  the  hands  of  Massasoit's  brother 
while  the  latter  came  into  the  settlement  with  about  twenty  of 
his  followers  all  unarmed.  A  league  of  friendship  was  entered 
into  which  was  faithfully  kept  for  nearly  fifty  years.  July  2  of 
the  same  year  Hopkins  and  Winslow  made  a  visit  to  Massasoit 
and  were  received  by  him  with  all  the  rude  hospitalities  of  the 
savage,  to  whom  they  presented  a  red  coat,  which  greatly 
delighted  him  as  also  his  braves.  Winslow  and  Hopkins  shared 
the  same  bed  with  the  barbarous  monarch  and  his  wife  that 
night  and  were  greatly  discomforted  by  the  fact  that  several  of 
the  chief  men  of  his  court  turned  in  with  them  before  morning 
making  the  miseries  of  the  night  greater  than  all  they  had 
encountered  on  their  journey. 

Two  years  afterwards  .Winslow  was  sent  on  another  expedi- 
tion to  Massasoit  on  the  occasion  of  the  severe  illness  of  the 
latter.  Winslow's  medical  skill  and  careful  nursing  restored 
him  to  comparative  health. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  Pilgrims  secured  the  friendship  of 
Massasoit,  as  he  exercised  authority  over  all  the  territory  com- 
prised between  Narragansett  and  Massachusetts  Bays.  Nine 
sachems  were  by  him  more  or  less  unwillingly  compelled  to 
maintain  peace  with  the  whites. 

The  troubles  that  led  to  King  Philip's  war  were  due  to  the 
impossibility  of  making  the  savage  Indian  understand  the  tenure 
in  land  by  fee  simple  after  the  English  fashion.  It  was  in  vain 
to  explain  it  to  him,  he  simply  could  not  take  it  in.  He  had 
no  conception  of  the  fact  that  he  was  parting  with  his  lands  and 
thought  that  he  was  simply  giving  to  the  whites  such  privileges 
as  he  himself  enjoyed  and  hoped  to  continue  to  enjoy  in  way  of 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  129 


hunting,  fishing  and  rude  agriculture.  When  he  found  himself 
being  shut  out  from  his  own  lands,  as  he  thought,  he  was  angry, 
and  feeling  that  he  had  been  deeply  wronged  committed  acts  of 
revenge  that  roused  that  awful  Anglo-Saxon  fury  that  extermi- 
nated him. 

But  for  nearly  fifty  years  it  was  the  potent  and  beneficent 
influence  of  Massasoit  that  postponed  the  inevitable  final 
catastrophe. 

The  most  careful  estimate  of  the  number  of  Indians  inhab- 
iting the  territory  now  covered  by  all  the  New  England  States 
previous  to  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  is  only 
about  fifty  thousand.  This  was  before  a  devastating  plague  had 
swept  many  of  them  away.  This  was  no  true  occupation  of  a 
country  now  supporting  many  millions. 

From  Bradford's  journal  we  learn  that  the  Pilgrims 
regarded  these  savages  as  treacherous,  cruel  and  blood-thirsty. 
In  spite  of  this  all  their  dealings  with  them  show  a  strict  regard 
for  the  very  highest  ethical  standard. 


The  County  of  Plymouth. 


The  County  of  Plymouth — With  the  exception  of  Jamestown,  the  scene  of 
the  oldest  successful  English  settlement  in  America.  Her  early  settlers  dealt 
justly  with  the  native  Indians,  and  she  has  ever  been  the  abode  of  an  industrious 
and  law-abiding  people. 

Responded  to  by  Hon.  Walter  H.  Faunae,  of  Kingston. 

To  treat  of  the  history  of  Plymouth  County  in  the  five 
minutes  allowed  by  our  toastmaster  would  require  a  greater 
speed  than  that  of  an  automobile,  the  driver  of  which  is  expect- 
ing each  instant  to  be  held  up  by  an  officer  with  watch  in 
hand,  and  know  he  deserves  to  be  arrested.  And  more  espe- 
cially if  we  are  to  include  even  a  slight  account  of  the  magnani- 
mous and  just  conduct  vouchsafed  to  a  race  now  almost  extinct. 


130  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


Plymouth  County  is  the  oldest  of  triplets  born  on  the 
second  day  of  June,  1685,  and  if  its  life  were  to  be  measured  by 
some  modern  sentiments  it  would  have  long  since  passed  its 
usefulness,  having  been  in  existence  nearly  three  and  one-half 
times  the  sixty  years  limit. 

As  her  soil  and  climate  give  the  fruit  and  vegetables  a 
peculiar  character  of  richness  and  flavor  so  do  they  impart  to 
the  people  a  peculiar  character.  And  when  we  speak  of  the 
County  we  must  include  its  people. 

And  it  is  with  plea.sure  that  we  can  look  back  upon  a  long 
line  of  able  men  and  women  that  originated  in  this  County,  able 
and  scholarly  tho'  the  years  of  school  life  were  few  and  the 
system  of  uniformity  and  grades  were  unknown.  There  was  a 
certain  elasticity  and  freedom  in  the  method  of  teaching  which 
tended  to  cultivate  self-reliance  and  personal  effort,  and  to 
encourage  individuality  of  thought  and  action  and  that  individu- 
uality  has  been  stamped  upon  the  records  of  the  County,  the 
State  and  Nation.  They  had  a  wealth  of  health  which  a  king 
cannot  buy  nor  even  the  manager  or  vice-president  of  a  modern 
trust  company. 

The  County  has  furnished  a  major  general  for  the  army,  a 
commodore  and  two  admirals  for  the  navy,  governors  for  this 
and  other  States,  congressmen  of  marked  ability,  a  statesman  of 
world  wide  notoriety  and  judges  for  our  courts,  all  of  that  pecu- 
liar richness  of  character.  A  notable  instance  is  that  of  the 
family  of  Israel  Washlurn,  a  descendant  of  John  Washburn,  the 
first  Secretary  of  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  whose  seven  sons 
furnished  governors  for  thiee  States,  a  member  of  congress  for 
four  States  and  two  United  States  ministers  to  foreign 
countries. 

The  great  West  is  teeming  with  the  descendants  of  men 
and  women  who  emigrated  from  this  County  and  who  are  help- 
ing to  develop  the  enormous  resources  of  a  land  practically 
unknown  in  1685,  and  our  "far  flung"  sea  coast  line  from  Hull 
to  Mattapoisett  is  dotted  over  with  the  houses  of  those  descen- 
dants who  seek  new  inspiration  each  year  from  the  spot  where 
landed  their  ancestors  from  the  Mayflower,  the  Ann,  the  For- 
tune and  other  vessels  of  later  date. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


131 


In  all  these  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  years,  not  enumer- 
ating the  present  incumbents  of  office — there  have  been  but 
seventeen  sheriffs,  eleven  judges  of  probate,  thirteen  registers 
of  probate,  eight  registers  of  deeds,  twelve  clerks  of  the  courts 
and  six  county  treasurers,  and  durmg  all  that  time  there  has 
been  no  charge  of  dishonesty,  graft  or  bribery. 

What  better  evidence  can  there  be  that  this  County  has 
ever  been  the  abode  of  an  "industrious  and  law  abiding  people." 
Let  us  be  as  careful  in  our  future  official  duties  as  have  been 
our  predecessors,  that  we  may  not  be  disturbed  by  the  echoes 
of  the  present  day  distrust,  nor  be  obhged  to  use  the  language 
of  our  present  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives  when  he 
says,  "I  do  not  need  to  tell  you  that  some  of  our  representa- 
tives are  not  probably  to  be  fully  trusted,"  but  rather  quote  his 
other  words  and  say  "the  citizenship  of  the  County  is  neither 
dishonest  nor  impure,  but  as  lofty  in  its  aims  as  your  high  hills, 
as  pure  in  its  desires  as  the  mountain  streams." 


The  County  of  Bristol. 


The  County  of  Bristol — It  shares  with  us  the  history  and  traditions  of  the 
Old  Colony,  and  we  welcome  today  its  distinguished  representative. 

Responded  to  by  Hon.   William  E.  Fuller  of  Taunton. 

Mr.  Toastmaster,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — It  is  my 
pleasant  duty  to  bring  to  old  mother  Bridgewater  and  her  pros- 
perous progeny  the  greetings  of  Bristol  County.  I  felicitate 
you  upon  her  good  old  age — her  excellent  health — her  youthful 
looks — her  respectable  family. 

I  speak  at  a  disadvantage.  If  I  were  representing  Taunton 
I  could  put  on  airs  of  your  big  brother  and  say  we  are  older 
than  you.  We  celebrated  our  cjuarter  millennial  seventeen 
years  ago. 

But  Bristol  County  is  your  junior  by  twenty-nine  years. 
You  set  up  house  keeping  in  your  own  home  in  1656.     Bristol 


132  2SOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


County  did  not  get  into  business  on  its  own  account  till  1685. 
This  is  your  festival  and  if  there  is  any  justification  for  Bristol 
County  sharing  it  with  you,  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  for  sixty-five 
years  the  Bridgewaters  and  all  the  towns  in  Bristol  Count}^  were 
members  of  the  same  household.  We  are  swarms  from  the 
same  Plymouth  hive.  ^ 

Till  1685  the  General  Court  of  Plymouth  Colony  exercised 
the  exclusive  powers  of  government,  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial,  and  the  public  records  were  kept  at  Plymouth.  In  that 
year,  for  the  more  convenient  administration  of  justice,  it 
divided  its  territory  into  three  judicial  districts,  respectively 
named  the  County  of  Plymouth,  the  County  of  Barnstable, 
the  County  of  Bristol.  It  established  a  county  court  in  each 
County  with  full  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  of  law,  equity, 
probate  and  admiralty. 

It  is  significant  of  what  the  fathers  thought  of  a  too  easy 
separation  of  husband  and  wife  that  they  retained  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  divorce  in  the  General  Court  at  Plymouth.  That 
act  of  legislation  was  important  and  enduring.  How  great  was 
its  benefit  to  Bristol  County  we  may  appreciate,  remembering 
how  different  then  were  the  facilities  for  travel  and  communi- 
cation from  those  of  today.  No  railways,  no  frequent  mails, 
no  electric  wires,  but  most  happily  for  them  no  automobiles. 
A  long  wearisome  day's  journey  lay  between  the  nearest  town 
in  Bristol  County  and  the  courts  and  records  at  Plymouth. 
Think  what  it  would  be  at  this  day  to  travel  fifty-two  miles  over 
a  sandy  road,  to  record  a  deed,  to  register  a  will,  to  testify  as  a 
witness  or  serve  as  a  juror. 

Parson  Emery  in  one  of  his  books  narrates  an  amusing 
incident  of  those  times.  The  local  magistrate  of  the  town  was 
empowered  to  try  persons  accused  of  some  minor  offences.  A 
dweller  in  Taunton  became  the  victim  of  his  justice.  He  was 
convicted  of  disturbing  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  town  and 
sentenced  to  receive  a  certain  number  of  stripes  at  the  public 
whipping  post.  The  punishment  had  to  be  officially  adminis- 
tered at  Plymouth  The  culprit  accepted  the  inevitable,  and 
starting  on  foot  and  alone  early  the  next  morning  and  carrying 
with  him  the  sentence  of  the  magistrate,  he  arrived  at  Plymouth 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


133 


by  the  middle  of  the  day,  received  the  punishment  that  fitted 
the  crime,  and  returned  to  Taunton  the  same  night  bringing  the 
certificate  of  execution  with  him. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  counties  the  colonial 
governments  were  abolished,  and  when  the  new  charters  were 
issued  all  the  territory  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  was  made  a 
part  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  A 
hundred  years  later,  through  another  transformation  that 
followed  the  revolution,  we  emerged  into  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  But  the  counties  with  their  boundary  lines  and 
jurisdictional  objects  as  established  by  the  General  Court  of 
Plymouth  Colony  survived  all  these  mutations  of  the  Superior 
Government,  and  remain  without  important  changes  to  the 
present  day. 


Our  Only  City. 


The  City  of  Brockton — formerly  the  North  Parish  of  Ancient  Bridgewater, 
now  one  of  the  most  prosperous  municipalities  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Responded    to    by    His    Honor    the  Mayor,  Frederick    O. 
Bradford  of  Brockton. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  the  only  city  in  Plymouth  County 
seems  remarkable  when  we  consider  its  lack  of  natural  advant- 
ages, and  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  the  indomitable  pluck  and 
perseverance  with  which  its  citizens  met  the  task  set  before 
them  ;  that  they  have  succeeded  in  building  a  city  beautiful  and 
creditable  to  themselves,  to  the  County  and  to  the  State  shows 
the  stamina  of  which  they  are  made  and  reflects  credit  upon 
them  and  their  ancestry. 

Early  in  the  history  of  Bridgewater,  the  North  Parish 
showed  an  independent  spirit  and  a  desire  to  set  up  a  govern- 
ment of  its  own,  that  it  might  work  out  its  own  destiny.  As 
was  but  natural,  parental  authority  was  against  any  such  move, 


134  2SOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


believing  that  it  would  be  better  that  all  should  remain  under 
one  town  government.  After  repeated  attempts  to  be  set  apart 
by  herself,  permission  was  obtained  from  the  legislature  and  in 
1 82 1  a  town  form  of  government  was  organized.  Her  growth 
was  slow  for  many  years  and  she  struggled  on  much  the  same 
as  any  town  in  the  Old  Colony,  her  inhabitants  carrying  on 
diverse  manufacturing  interests  and  following  agricultural 
pursuits. 

From  the  year  1870,  when  her  population  had  reached 
8,007,  and  valuation  $3,443,780,  she  began  to  make  rapid  pro- 
gress, so  that  in  the  year  1880  she  decided  to  cast  off  the  town 
form  of  government  and  applied  to  the  legislature  for  a  charter 
as  a  city.  At  this  time  the  population  was  13,602;  valuation 
$6,252,413.  From  that  time  to  the  present  she  has  made  still 
greater  progress,  as  the  following  statistics  show  : 

Year.  Population.  Valuation. 

1890  .  27,294  $17,477,846.50. 

1900  .  40,063  27,868,799.20 

1905  .         47.794  32,095,279.70 

1906*        .         50,000  34,000,000.00 

*Estimated. 

While  these  figures  show  the  marvelous  growth  and  expan- 
sion of  our  city,  it  also  speaks  volumes  for  the  business  ability 
of  the  manufacturer  and  skill  of  our  shoeworkers,  which  has 
made  it  possible  to  rise  to  the  leading  place  in  the  shoe  indus- 
try, and  for  the  past  year  to  show  the  largest  percentage  of 
increase  of  factory  product  of  any  city  or  town  in  the  common- 
wealth, and  next  to  the  largest  increase  in  population  of  any  city 
in  the  State. 

The  executive  of  the  city  who  is  held  responsible  for  the 
business  and  good  conduct  of  its  citizens,  fully  appreciates  the 
benefits  of  arbitration  as  applied  in  our  city  in  relation  to  labor 
controversies  that  are  bound  to  arise  in  a  manufacturing  city  ; 
through  its  workings  strikes  and  lockouts  are  relegated  to  the 
rear,  and  our  citizens  are  enabled  to  pursue  their  usual  vocations 
pending  the  final  settlement  of  any  controversy  that  may  arise, 
the  manufacturer  is  enabled  to  supply  his  customers'  orders  on 
time,  better  feeling  prevails  and  more  harmony  exists  in  the 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


135 


community.  We  are  deeply  indebted  to  that  distinguished 
gentleman  of  our  city,  the  Hon.  William  L.  Douglas,  ex-Gover- 
nor of  the  Commonwealth,  and  father  of  the  arbitration  law  of 
Massachusetts,  for  his  labors  in  behalf  of  this  measure,  and  for 
the  solution  of  one  of  the  very  important  phases  of  the  indus- 
trial situation  as  it  exists  today.  As  her  industrial  and 
financial  progress  has  been  marvelous,  so  have  her  political 
views  and  ideas  been  such  as  to  draw  the  attention  of  those 
outside  of  her  borders.  Notwithstanding  these  diverse  views 
as  expressed  by  her  voters,  she  stands  the  peer  of  any  munici- 
pality in  the  land  for  honesty  in  her  public  officials  and  in  the 
administration  of  her  public  affairs  and  devotion  of  her  citizens 
to  the  interests  of  Brockton  and  to  the  development  of  her 
greater  possibilities.  Composed  largely  of  men  of  optimistic 
views,  she  has  steadily  progressed  towards  a  larger  and  broader 
condition,  getting  knowledge  by  the  experiences  of  the  past ; 
satisfied  with  the  present,  she  looks  to  the  future  with  confi- 
dence and  with  a  heart  full  of  faith  in  the  destiny  of  the 
Greater  Brockton. 


Our  Neighboring  Towns. 


Our  Neighboring  Town.s — Some  of  them  are  a  part  of  our  original  territory, 
and  all  of  them  look  with  friendly  interest  upon  our  growth  and  prosperity. 

Responded    to  by    Rev.  Charles    E.   Beals    of    Cambridge, 
formerly  of  Stoughton. 

If  I  am  to  speak  of  the  Stoughton  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago  my  task  is  an  easy  one.  A  prize  was  once 
offered  for  the  best  essay  on  "A  Scientific  Descripton  of  the 
Varieties  of  Snakes  in  Ireland."  The  prize  paper  was  brief;  it 
read  thus  :  "There  are  no  snakes  in  Ireland."  There  was  no 
Stoughton  until  seventy  years  after  Bridgewater  was  incor- 
porated. 


136  a50TH    ANNIVERSARY 


On  the  22d  of  December,  1726,  a  part  of  Dorchester  was 
set  off  as  Stoughton.  The  new  town  was  named  in  honor  of 
Lieutenant-Governor  William  Stoughton,  who  in  his  famous 
election  sermon  of  1668,  in  describing  the  makers  of  New  Eng- 
land, uttered  these  memorable  words  :  "God  sifted  a  whole 
nation  that  he  might  send  choice  wheat  into  the  wilderness." 

Stoughton  has  been  generous  with  its  territory.  In  1733, 
in  1737,  and  again  in  1780,  portions  were  annexed  to  Dedham. 
In  1765  a  part  was  established  as  Stoughtonham  which  after- 
wards became  the  town  of  Sharon  and  a  part  of  Foxboro.  To 
Sharon  it  again  ceded  land  in  1792  and  also  in  1864,  and  in 
1793  contributed  more  territory  to  Foxboro.  Canton  was 
carved  in  1797.  In  1798,  a  part  of  Stoughton  was  annexed  to 
Bridgewater.  In  1888,  East  Stoughton  was  established  as 
Avon. 

The  Stoughton  of  today  has  several  things  to  link  it 
directly  with  the  past.  Indian  Lane  is  inhabited  by  a  group  of 
people  in  whose  veins  flows  some  of  the  blood  of  the  old  Ponka- 
poag  tribe  of  Indians,  among  whom  the  Apostle  Eliot  labored. 

The  York  neighborhood,  lying  on  the  border  between 
Stoughton  and  Canton,  and  including  York  pond,  was  settled 
by  families  from  York,  Maine,  whose  homes  had  been  sacked 
and  burned  by  the  Indians.  Among  these  refugees  was  John 
Wentworth,  the  son  of  Elder  William  Wentworth,  the  progenitor 
of  the  Wentworths  of  America. 

The  Old  Stoughton  Musical  Society  enjoys  the  distinction 
of  being  the  oldest  musical  organization  in  the  country.  For 
this  reason,  and  by  its  rendering  of  the  old-time  music,  it 
attracted  not  a  little  attention  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair. 
The  town  seal  bears  a  harp  in  honor  of  this  society. 

The  Stoughton  Grenadiers  constitute  a  unique,  semi-mili- 
tary, social  organization,  tracing  their  history  back  to  the  early 
days  when  they  were  a  military  body.  Every  year  they  hold  a 
field-day,  drilling  on  the  old  church  green.  On  one  occasion, 
decades  ago,  when  the  troopers  were  tired  from  much  marching, 
their  ingenious  commander  hit  upon  an  original  method  of  rest- 
ing them.  Forming  them  in  single  file  he  marched  them  round 
and  round  in  a  circle,  with  the  colors  and  officers  inside,  closing 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  137 


the  circle  towards  the  centre,  until  the  men  marched  breast  to 
back,  locking  step.  Then,  halting  them,  he  gave  the  command, 
"Company,  Rest !"  at  which  command,  according  to  his 
instructions,  the  men  all  sat  down  in  each  other's  laps.  This 
maneouvre  is  perpetuated  to  the  present  day,  to  the  great 
amusement  to  the  spectators. 

Stoughton  has  contributed  its  quota  to  the  educational, 
political  and  industrial  life  of  the  nation.  Edward  L.  and 
Henry  L.  Pierce  were  sons  of  Col.  Jesse  Pierce  of  Stoughton. 
Dr.  Elmer  H.  Capen,  the  revered  president  of  Tufts  College, 
was  also  a  Stoughton  boy.  Mrs.  Alice  Gray  Teele,  for  many 
years  a  successful  and  beloved  teacher  in  the  Cambridge  public 
schools,  and  now  the  executive  head  of  that  great  philanthropic 
institution  which  is  not  a  charity,  the  Franklin  Square  House, 
of  Boston,  was  also  Stoughton-born  and  bred.  Scores  of  others 
might  be  named  if  time  permitted. 

The  same  blood  flows  in  the  families  of  Bridgewater  and 
Stoughton,  just  as  the  Taunton  river,  which  rises  in  Stoughton, 
flows  through  Bridgewater.  For  example,  the  distinguished 
president  of  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historial  Society,  Dr.  Loring 
W.  Puffer,  is,  I  believe  a  Stoughtonian  by  birth,  and  a  descen- 
dant of  Lieut.  John  Puffer,  who  settled  in  Stoughton,  dying 
there  in  1750.  We  have  also  given  you  Philip  Reynolds,  Mace 
Gay,  Mrs.  A.  T.  Jones,  and  many  others.  I  happen  to  be 
familiar  with  my  own,  patronymic,  having  been  at  work,  at  odd 
moments,  for  more  ten  years,  compiling  a  Beal  genealogy. 
Deacon  Joseph  Beals,  the  "Mountain  Miller"  of  Plainfield, 
Massachusetts,  and  Rev.  Oliver  Beale,  who,  it  is  said  on  good 
authority,  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  plant  Methodism  in 
Maine,  were  both  born  in  Bridgewater,  and  were  collaterally 
related  to  the  Stoughton  families  of  that  name.  They  are  fair 
samples  of  the  choice  spirited,  sturdy,  fearless  men  in  the  ranks 
of  the  common  people,  who,  with  strong  common  sense, 
unswerving  integrity,  and  loyal  devotion  to  their  best  ideals, 
have  helped  to  make  our  national  life  strong  and  enduring. 

In  Revolutionary  days — "the  times  that  tried  men's  souls" 
— Bridgewater  and  Stoughton  vied  with  each  other  in  pouring 
out  their  best  blood  in  the  cause  of  liberty.     Among  Stougton's 


138  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


most  distinguished  soldiers  were  Col.  Benjamin  Gill,  who  com- 
manded a  regiment  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  and  Gen. 
Richard  Gridley,  who  was  with  Wolfe  at  Quebec,  and  who 
planned  the  artillery  defences  of  Bunker  Hill.  Both  of  these 
war  captains  lived  in  that  part  of  Stoughton  which  is  now 
Canton. 

So,  too,  during  the  great  Civil  War,  the  men  of  Stoughton 
marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men  of  Bridgewater, 
sharing  hardships  and  braving  death  together,  in  Fletcher 
Webster's  12th  Mass.  Infantry,  or,  perchance,  in  the  Old 
Bridgewater  Dragoons,  which  entered  the  U.  S.  cavalry  service. 

Thus  did  our  fathers  dare  and  do,  facing  and  solving  the 
problems  of  their  day  with  fortitude  and  self  sacrifice.  Worthy 
sires  were  they  indeed.  And  if  we,  their  sons,  are  to  be  worthy 
of  such  sires,  we,  too,  must  meet  the  problems  of  our  day  with 
a  like  spirit.  Our  ancestors  were  pioneers.  They^did  pioneer 
work,  and  pioneer  work  always  is  hard  work,  and  sometimes  is 
dangerous  work.  They  did  their  work  faithfully  and  well.  In 
some  respects  since  the  future  grows  out  of  the  present  just  as 
the  present  grew  out  of  the  past,  the  work  committed  to  us  is 
likewise  pioneer  work,  though  in  a  form  different  from  theirs. 
We  are  entering  a  new  and  distinct  epoch  in  world  history.  As 
Americans  we  are  about  to  tread  where  no  nation  yet  has  trodden- 
We  are  confronted  with  conditions  which  compel  us  to  readjust 
and  reorganize  our  business  activities,  rewrite  our  laws,  and 
recast  our  institutions. 

I  have  implicit  faith  that  the  God  of  our  fathers  will  be  our 
God,  guiding  us  in  the  evolution  of  new  and  more  eq^uitable  and 
more  satisfactory  relations  between  man  and  man,  and  between 
class  and  class,  until  America's  great  president's  noble  ideals 
shall  be  realized — "A  square  deal  for  all,"  and  "all  up  together." 
I  have  faith,  too,  in  the  American  people,  that  they  will  neither 
flinch  nor  fail,  but,  animated  by  the  memory  of  their  redoubt- 
able forefathers,  go  forward,  and  ever  forward,  at  whatever  cost 
to  themselves,  until  they  shall  consummate  that  democracy 
which  was  initiated  by  a  God-fearing,  liberty-loving  ancestry  in 
tears  and  blood. 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER  139 


The    Deborah  Sampson  Chapter,  Daughters    of  the    American    Revolution 
and  the  Old  Colony  Chapter,  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 


"The  Deborah  Sampson  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution" 
and  the  "Old  Colony  Chapter,  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution." — Two  kindred 
organizations  that  have  done  much  to  perpetuate  the  memories  of  that  brave  and 
patriotic  period  in  our  national  life,  and  save  from  oblivion  the  names  and  the 
deeds  of  its  actors. 

Responded  to  by  Mrs.  G.  O.  Jenkins,  Regent,  of  Whitman. 

After  listening  to  the  eloquence  of  the  distinguished 
orators  who  have  preceded  me,  eminent  expounders  of  the  law, 
educators,  physicians,  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  clear-headed 
men  of  business,  one  might  say  with  the  psalmist,  with  slight 
variation,  'What  is  woman  that  thou  callest  upon  her,  and  the 
daughter  of  woman  that  thou  art  mindful  of  her.'  But  if  to 
any  organization  of  women  should  be  accorded  the  honor  of 
appearing  upon  this  program,  it  is  eminently  fitting  that 
Deborah  Sampson  chapter  should  be  so  favored.  For  who  in 
this  assembly  does  not  know  the  story  of  our  own  Jeanne  d'Arc 
of  modern  history;  how  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Middleboro, 
going  out  from  her  humble  home  to  the  friendly  seclusion  of 
the  nearby  grove,  she  patiently  and  persistently  plied  her 
needle  through  all  her  leisure  hours,  making  a  suit  of  men's 
attire.  Her  labor  accomplished,  clad  in  her  unfamiliar  garb, 
she  walked  most  of  the  way,  by  night  to  avoid  discovery,  to  Bos- 
ton. Thence  she  .proceeded  to  Worcester,  where  she  enlisted 
in  the  Continental  army.  For  i8  months  she  marched  and 
bravely  fought  side  by  side  and  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  her 
companions-in-arms,  enduring  privation,  suffering  and  toil,  ford- 
ing treacherous  rivers  and  exposed  to  wintry  blasts,  fired  with 
love  of  country,  of  liberty,  of  independence.  Deborah  Samp- 
son chapter,  D.  A.  R.,  for  what  does  it  stand.? 

It  stands  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  memory  of  those  who 
fought  for  and  achieved  American  independence.  It  stands  for 
the  preservation  of  documents  and  relics  of  historic  value.  It 
stands  for  unswerving  loyalty  to  these  principles  who  have 
made  our  nation  second    to  none.     Two  weeks  ago    it    was  my 


I40  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


privilege  to  attend  the  Memorial  clay  exercises  in  one  of  the 
public  schools  in  my  own  town.  As  I  listened  to  the  program, 
replete  with  patriotic  sentiments,  closing  with  the  recitation  in 
concert  by  the  scholars  of  Lincoln's  address  at  Gettysburg,  and 
as  shading  their  bright  young  eyes  they  reverently  saluted  the 
flag  draped  above  the  platform,  unbidden  tears  welled  in  my 
eyes.  And  I  thought  what  a  glorious  opportunity  is  open  for 
the  D.  A.  R.  to  place  before  these  young  minds  lofty  ideals  of 
patriotic  service,  to  train  them  and  especially  the  little  strangers 
who  are  coming  to  our  shores  in  so  great  nufribers  with  foreign 
language,  foreign  customs,  foreign  morals,  so  to  teach  them 
that  they  may  grow  up  to  be  useful,  loyal,  law-abiding  citizens 
of  this  glorious  country  of  ours.  May  Deborah  Sampson  chap- 
ter, D.  A.  R.,  ever  prove  faithful  to  her  trust. 


Responded  to  by  Hon.  I.   N.   Nutter  of  East  Bridgewater. 

I  am  pleased  to  respond  in  behalf  of  Old  Colony  Chapter, 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  history  of  Old  Bridge- 
water  would  be  incomplete  without  recounting  the  part  taken 
by  her  sons  in  that  great  contest,  which  secured  for  the 
American  people  civil  liberty,  and  the  right  of  self-government. 
Patriots  from  Old  Bridgewater  took  part  in  nearly  every  conflict 
from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown,  and  many  of  her  soldiers  laid 
down  their  lives  on  the  altar  of  liberty. 

Descendants  of  the  settlers  of  Bridgewater  were  among  the 
first  to  join  the  continental  army  after  the  conflict  commenced 
at  Lexington  and  Concord,  and  the  old  town  continued  to 
furnish  its  quota  until  the  close  of  the  contest  in  1782.  After 
the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorkton  a  squad  of  men  under 
charge  of  Lieut.  Clift  of  Bridgewater  were  detailed  to  remove 
the  massive  chain  stretched  across  the  Hudson  River  at  West 
Point,  to  prevent  the  vessels  of  the  British  fleet  from  ascending 
the  river. 

The  descendants  of  these  soldiers  and  patriots  are  earn- 
estly striving  to  emulate  their  example  and  hand  down  to  future 
generations  a  record  of  their  noble  deeds.     In  behalf  of    Old 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  1 41 


Colony  Chapter,  I  congratulate  the  committee  in  charge  of  this 
celebration  upon  the  great  success  which  has  attended  their 
efforts. 


Responded  to  by  Dr.  C.  E.  Lovell  of  Whitman. 

I  congratulate  myself  upon  the  opportunity  which  this 
occasion  affords,  of  attending  a  celebration  upon  such  a  spot  as 
this.  There  is  power  in  historic  association.  We  celebrate 
today  an  event,  separated  from  us  by  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  I  am  glad  the  ancestors  of  so  many  good  people  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower.  I  am  sometimes  disposed  to  think  she 
must  have  made  a  good  many  trips,  but  I  am  pleased  that  they 
are  so  numerous.  Nothing  prevents  my  having  had  an  ancestor 
on  the  Mayflower  but  my  veracity.  The  Mayflower  continues 
sailing,  transformed  into  a  Brockton  canal  boat,  a  dude  train,  or 
even  an  electric  baggage  car.  She  is  landing  many  pilgrims  in 
many  portions  of  our  country.  Wherever  men  and  women 
have  gone  with  the  spirit  of  the  brave  settlers  of  this  town  to 
found  new  communities  there  has  been  a  new  landing  of  the 
Mayflower.  So  long  as  the  spirit  of  her  passengers  abides  in 
her  sons,  so  long  as  the  sons  of  the  Revolutionary  sires  keep 
alive  the  flame  those  patriots  kindled,  our  land  is  safe.  We 
have  come  here  today  that  by  another  spark  this  sacred  flame 
within  us  may  burn  with  a  brighter  glow.  With  confidence  in 
law,  in  education,  in  liberty  and  morality,  we  dedicate  ourselves 
anew  to  these  principles. 


142  250TH    ANNIVERSARY 


The  Ousamequin  Club  of  Bridgewater. 


It  seeks  to  perpetuate  an  historic  name,  and  disseminate  learning  among 
the  people. 

Responded  to  by  Mrs.  George    M.    Webber,    President,  of 
East  Bridgewater. 

The  Ousamequin  Club,  being  a  Woman's  Club,  would 
belie  the  reputation  of  their  sex,  were  they  not  pleased  with 
this  opportunity  to  say  a  few  words  about  their  work  on  this 
occasion. 

It  seemed  to  us  very  appropriate  to  name  our  Club  for  the 
great  Indian  Chieftain,  and  we  trust  this  day's  exercises  may 
sufficiently  acquaint  the  people  of  this  community  with  the 
significance  of  the  name,  so  we  may  not  be  so  often  asked  the 
question — did  you  name  your  Club  for  the  old  fire  engine 
Ousamequin,  which  I  believe  was  the  first  engine  to  exist  in 
Bridgewater? 

The  object  of  the  Ousamequin  Club  is  culture:-  the  broad 
intellectual  culture,  illuminating  the  mind  to  behold  new  pos- 
sibilities in  science,  literature,  music  and  art;  to  realize  the 
relation  of  art  to  life;  of  beauty  to  education. 

It  includes  the  social  cultMre  for  philanthropic  work,  for 
the  improvement  of  our  homes,  our  town  streets,  manners  and 
morals. 

The  culture  that  seeing  the  new  social  conditions  brought 
about  by  the  industrial  resolutions,  seeks  to  understand  these 
problems.  The  culture  that  seeing  moral  inertia  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  nearly  all  the  monstrous  abuses  of  our  day,  seeks 
to  add  our  indignation,  to  the  general  wrath  which  Club  women 
have  poured  out  in  such  generous  measure,  as  to  contribute  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  moral  upheaval  now  in  order. 

And  yet,  while  men  who  stand  at  the  head  of  great  public 
movements  acknowledge  the  help  women's  clubs  have  been  in 
the  practical  work  of  the  various  social  organizations,  there 
came  to  us  not  long  ago  the  message  "that  women's  clubs  were 
a  menace  to  the  integrity  of  the  home." 


OLD     BRIDGEWATER  143 


Thus  spake  Mr.  Grover  Cleveland.  Does  he  not  know 
"the  heart  of  the  American  woman  always  rings  true  when  the 
home  is  touched  upon..^" 

There  are  Women's  Clubs  existing  purely  for  social  pur- 
poses, like  many  Men's  Clubs.  Mr.  Cleveland  may  have  been 
thinking  of  these  when  he  heedlessly  spoke  in  this  way,  he 
surely  knew  not  the  "Ousamequin." 

Our  Club  has  two  hundred  members  the  majority  of  whom 
are  mothers  or  home  makers.  We  not  only  try  to  improve  our 
own  home  life  but  that  of  others  ;  as  for  example,  we  have  had  a 
course  of  lectures  on  practical  domestic  affairs  such  as  home 
sanitation,  diet  and  health,  food  and  household  values,  which 
the  women  of  the  towns  were  invited  to  attend,  and  to  profit 
thereby. 

We  have  had  an  Arts  and  Crafts  exhibit  considered  the 
best  held  in  the  State.  We  organized  a  few  years  ago  a  Stamp 
Saving  Station,  whereby  the  children  of  Bridgewater  are 
encouraged  to  shun  the  fascinations  of  chewing  gum  and  pink 
sticks,  saving  their  pennies  for  something  really  worth  while. 
It  is  a  pleasure  to  note  how  many  hundreds  of  dollars  have  been 
saved  in  this  way  by  the  children. 

Industrial  classes  have  been  formed  whereby  the  children 
of  the  town  may  be  provided  with  home  work  for  the  winter. 

It  is  women  from  our  Club  who  organized  and  so  success- 
fully conduct  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association. 

Not  least,  of  all  the  Ousamequin  Club  has  been  the  means 
of  bringing  the  Bridgewaters  in  closer  touch  with  one  another. 

The  women  of  the  towns  are  in  thorough  sympathy,  eager 
to  work  together  for  the  betterment  of  all. 

So  may  the  Ousamequin  Club  grow  and  prosper,  may  it 
live  to  tell  of  much  more  accomplished  for  the  good  of  the 
Bridgewaters  at  the  next  anniversary  celebration,  for  "The 
divinity  that  dwelleth  in  these  things  groweth  not  old." 


144  25OTH    ANNIVERSARY 


Comments  of  the  Press, 


From  the  Brockton  Times. 

With  a  pride  fully  justified  by  the  glorious  records  of  the 
past,  with  a  harmony  which  will  always  be  one  of  the  happy 
memories  of  the  event,  with  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  like  that  of 
one  great  family,  the  descendants  of  Old  Bridgewater's  pioneers 
yesterday  celebrated  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
the  ancient  community.  Not  only  did  those  who  boast  a  direct 
descent  from  those  staunch  Pilgrims  who  tamed  the  wilderness 
join  in  this  reverent  ceremony,  but  also  those  who  are  adopted 
members  of  the  great  Bridgewater  family.  The  latter,  bearing 
the  blood  of  other  settlers,  many  of  them  recent  arrivals  from 
foreign  lands,  were  just  as  true  and  sincere  in  the  part  they 
played.  Boundary  lines  were  for  the  time  being  wiped  out  of 
existence,  and  Bridgewater,  East  Bridgewater,  West  Bridge- 
water,  and  North  Bridgewater,  the  latter  now  Brockton,  joined 
in  the  observance.  Though  held  for  convenience  and  for 
historical  association  in  the  town  of  West  Bridgewater,  the 
birthday  ])arty  was  a  union  effort  successful  in  every  way.  It 
occupied  the  entire  day,  and  will  always  be  remembered  by 
those  present  as  a  feast  of  eloquence,  a  beautiful  display  of 
patriotic  sentiment. 

The  celebration  owed  its  origin  to  the  Old  Bridgewater 
Historical  Society,  which  public-spiritedly  invited  the  co-opera- 
tion of  all.  In  making  up  the  program  the  general  committee 
in  charge  selected  not  only  those  who  reside  in  this  section  and 
have  attained  public  notice  by  success  in  many  lines,  but  also 
those  who  have  gone  to  other  parts  of  New  England,  but  have 
not  forgotten  their  ancestry.  The  public  showed  its  sympathy 
with  the  celebration  by  throwing  to  the  breeze  the  stars  and 
stripes,  while  hundreds  laid  aside  their  daily  tasks,  lined  the 
route  of  the  parade,  and  listened  to  the  literary  exercises. 

The  celebration  took  this  order  :  A  gathering  of  citizens 
at  the  soldiers'  monument  in  West  Bridgewater  at  nine,  brief 
exercises'^  there,  parade,  stopping  for  brief  periods  at  the  Gary 
monument,    old    Keith    house    and    Memorial    hall   for   simple 


OLD   BRIDGEWATER  1 45 


recognition  of  these  spots,  arrival  at  Drury  field,  conclusion  of 
the  morning  literary  exercises,  dinner  at  noon,  the  afternoon 
given  up  to  further  literary  exercises  on  Drury  field. 

The  protession  was  formed  with  City  Marshal  Ira  Kingman 
of  Brockton  as  chief  marshal.  A  squad  of  Brockton  police 
followed,  led  by  Lieut.  C.  H.  Chase.  The  squad  included 
Officers  Walker,  Lays,  Jacobs,  Swain,  Higgins,  Packer,  Rowley 
and  H.  Allen.  The  police  were  followed  by  the  Martland  band 
and  a  vast  concourse  of  people  on  foot,  in  carriages  and 
automobiles. 

The  line  of  march  extended  down  River  Street,  past  gaily 
decorated  houses  to  the  Cary  monument,  where  Rev.  E.  B. 
Maglathlin  introduced  Rev.  Howard  Cary  Dunham,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  original  John  Cary,  and  the  man  who  was 
largely  instrumental  in  the  erection  of  the  monument  last  year. 
Rev.  Mr.  Dunham  substituted  for  Rev.  Seth  C.  Cary  of  Boston, 
who  was  to  deliver  the  address,  but  who  was  unable  to  be 
present. 

The  procession  then  wended  its  way  along  Bryant  and 
Arch  Streets  to  the  old  Keith  homestead.  This  house  was 
presented  to  Rev.  James  Keith,  the  first  minister  of  Bridge- 
water,  in  1659,  by  his  parishioners.  The  vast  crowd  assembled 
in  the  yard  and  street  in  front  of  the  house,  had  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  an  interesting  address  by  a  direct  descendant  of  the 
first  minister,  Rev.  Sydney  K.  B.  Perkins  of  Raynham.  The 
venerable  minister  was  vociferously  cheered  at  the  close  of  his 
address. 

The  procession  moved  forward  once  again,  going  to  the 
head  of  Bryant  Street,  countermarching  in  front  of  the  resi- 
dence of  E.  P.  Dunbar,  Chairman  of  the  Dinner  Committee. 
The  Memorial  Building  on  Howard  Street,  the  home  of  the  Old 
Bridgewater  Historical  Society,  was  the  next  and  last  stopping 
place,  before  proceeding  to  the  dining  tents  on  Drury  field.  An 
address  was  delivered  at  this  point  by  Joshua  E.  Crane  of 
Bridgewater,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Old  Bridgewater 
Historical  Society,  and  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
The  handsome  building  was  tastefully  decorated,  and  was  the 
occasion  of  many  admiring  remarks  from  the  visitors. 


146  2SOTH    ANNIVERSARY 


From  the  Memorial  Building  the  procession  marched  up 
Center  Street  to  Howard  Seminary,  up  Main  Street  to  the 
Drury  field. 

The  line  of  march  was  one  continued  ovation  for  those  in 
the  procession.  The  houses  and  places  of  business  were  hand- 
somely decorated,  two  decorators  being  busily  engaged  for  the 
past  few  days. 

Royally  the  program  was  carried  out  and  all  contributing 
to  the  success  of  the  interesting  observance  may  well  feel  proud 
over  the  record  of  the  day. 

The  celebration  honored  the  debt  of  memory  of  all  contri- 
buting to  its  success.  It  passes  into  history  to  testify  to  the 
appreciation  of  the  people  of  this  time  for  the  traditions  of  the 
past,  and  when  another  half  century  has  run  its  course,  bringing 
around  the  tercentenary  of  Old  Bridgewater,  the  story  of 
yesterday's  celebration  will  be  rehearsed,  as  showing  the  regard 
of  the  present  generation  for  the  milestone  just  passed  on  the 
journey  of  time.  Such  celebrations  are  valuable  for  the 
renewed  interest  they  create  i)i  the  history  of  the  section,  and 
the  emphasis  they  give  to  the  duty  of  remembrance. 


From  the  Brockton  Enterprise. 

From  1656  to  1906 — 250  years.  It  is  a  long  time,  but 
time  cannot  efface  from  the  tablets  of  memory  great  events. 
It  was  in  1656  that  a  sturdy  band  of  Pilgrims  was  allowed  to 
have  a  portion  of  the  old  Duxbury  township  set  apart  as  a 
separate  township,  and  settled  the  ancient  town  of  Bridgewater 
from  which  has  sprung  all  the  towns  bearing  that  name,  and 
the  city  of  Brockton,  formerly  North  Bridgewater.  The  early 
struggles,  suffering  and  achievement  of  that  band  of  pioneers 
remain  in  the  memory  of  their  descendants,  and  in  commemora- 
tion of  their  action  in  founding  the  new  township  fitting  cere- 
monies and  exercises  were  held  yesterday  at  West  Bridgewater, 
where  was  built  the  first  meeting  house  in  the  new  settlement. 

All  roads  led  to  West  Bridgewater  throughout  the  day,  and 


OLD    BRIDGE  WATER 


147 


it  is  estimated  that  between  5000  to  6000  persons  took  part  in 
the  celebration.  They  began  to  arrive  early  in  the  morning 
from  the  surrouijding  towns  by  electric  cars,  carriages  and  auto- 
mobiles, and  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  made  itself  manifest  in 
many  ways.  The  townspeople  gave  a  cordial  welcome  to  the 
visitors,  and  the  houses  and  buildings  were  in  gala  attire  with 
decorations  of  red,  white  and  blue. 

Within  the  confines  of  West  Bridgewater  has  grown  and 
flourished  one  of  the  most  noted  churches  in  Massachusetts — 
the  First  Congregational  (Unitarian,)  and  whose  250th  anni- 
versary antedated  that  of  the  town  itself  by  five  years. 

William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  famous  poet,  wrote  his  immor- 
tal "Thanatopsis"  here,  and  the  place  was  the  scene  of  the 
early  industrial  activities  of  the  noted  Ames  family,  one  of 
whose  members,  Oliver  Ames,  was  governor  of  Massachusetts. 

The  town  itself  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the  com- 
monwealth. It  is  mainly  an  agricultural  community,  possess- 
ing many  large  and  fertile  farms.  The  Taunton  river  winds 
through  it  picturesquely,  affording  splendid  facilities  for  canoe- 
ing and  boating. 

The  fine  highways  of  the  town  are  largely  elm-shaded,  and 
one  cannot  walk  through  any  of  them  for  many  rods  without 
passing  some  ancient  building  or  other  historic  landmark. 

The  place,  moreover,  has  some  prestige  as  an  educational 
centre,  being  the  seat  of  Howard  Seminary,  whose  handsome 
brick  building,  surrounded  by  the  most  attractive  of  grounds 
stands  on  a  sightly  elevation  not  far  from  the  Central  Square. 

The  latest  addition  to  West  Bridgewater's  monuments  is 
the  one  to  the  memory  of  John  Cary,  the  first  Town  Clerk,- 
standing  at  the  corner  of  South  and  Bryant  Streets,  and 
dedicated  a  few  years  ago. 

The  fine  Memorial  Building  on  Howard  Street  makes  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  historic  buildings  that  stand  so  near  it. 
The  structure  is  a  one-story  affair,  'of  brick  with  marble  trim- 
mings, and  of  a  colonial  style  architecture.  The  main  building 
is  forty  by  fifty  feet  and  contains  two  alcoves,  named  respec- 
tively for  the  Keith  and  Howard  families. 

It  was  erected  by  the  Old  Bridgewater  Historical  Society 


148  250TH   ANNIVERSARY 


"In  memory  of  the  original  proprietors  and  settlers,"  and  was 
dedicated  in  June,  1901. 

On  the  first  floor  there  is  a  large  assembly ^hall  and  on  the 
four  walls  are  a  number  of  memorial  tablets,  the  inscriptions  of 
which  practically  epitomize  the  early  history  of  the  place. 


From  the  Bridgewater    Advertiser. 

How  to  fittingly  celebrate  the  250th  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  Old  Bridgewater  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
discussion  by  the  members  and  committees  of  the  Old  Bridge- 
water  Historical  Society  for  a  number  of  months  past.  The 
various  committees  appointed  by  the  society  have  all  been 
working  hard  to  bring  about  an  observance  of  the  day  which 
will  properly  celebrate  the  occasion.  The  results  of  their  labors 
were  manifest  in  the  interesting  program  which  took  place  to 
day  in  the  old  town  of  West  Bridgewater. 

Throughout  the  town  the  houses  were  profusely  decorated 
with  flags  and  bunting,  while  the  big  tents  where  the  dinner 
was  served,  were  items  of  interest  to  a  large  number.  In  the 
surrounding  towns  of  Bridgewater  and  East  Bridgewater  the 
church  bells  were  rung  at  seven  o'clock,  flags  were  flying,  and 
houses  showed  a  display  of  bunting.  The  schools  in  the  differ- 
ent towns  were  closed  and  the  pupils  of  the  high  school  were 
on  the  program  to  sing  during  the  anniversary. 


From  the  Bridgewater  Independent. 

The  day  long  anticipated  and  not  soon  to  be  forgotten  by 
those  privileged  to  share  in  its  exercises  has  become  a  matter 
of  history.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  anything  more  could  have 
been  done  to  add  finish  to  the  program  that  attended  the  obser- 
vance of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  Old 
Town  of  Bridgewater  at  West  Bridgewater,  Wednesday.     The 


OLD    BRIDGEWATER 


149 


weather,  the  speaking,  dinner,  the  other  exercises  and  the 
attendance  all  rejoiced  those  who  had  labored  long  and  earn- 
estly to  make  the  affair  worthy  of  the  occasion.  Everywhere 
there  was  a  hearty  response  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  to  sug- 
gestions from  the  committee  and  the  citizens  of  all  the  towns 
and  the  city  would  have  been  glad  to  do  much  more  if  those  in 
charge  had  so  asked. 

The  250th  anniversary  of  the  Old  Town  of  Bridgewater  is  an 
event  of  the  past  but  its  influence  will  be  felt  far  into  the 
future.  It  was  notable  for  several  things,  the  businesslike 
manner  in  which  the  program  was  carried  out,  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  and  the  interest  evinced  by  both  residents  and 
non-residents  of  the  town.  The  effect  of  the  celebration  must 
be  of  great  benefit  to  the  town  and  those  contributing  to  it  may 
feel  that  they  have  been  a  real  help. 

While  the  celebration  is  a  thing  of  the  past  the  people 
must  see  to  it  that  the  good  things  said  and  the  prophecies 
made  as  to  the  future  shall  come  true  ;  that  the  high  position 
maintained  by  Bridgewater  along  educational,  religious  and 
social  lines  shall  be  upheld  and  to  that  added  an  industrial 
endeavor  that  shall  be  one  of  the  features  of  the  day  of  the  cele- 
bration fifty  years  hence.  The  efforts  of  the  past  should  be 
incentive  to  work  for  the  future.  Just  so  far  as  the  present  is 
an  improvement  over  the  days  gone  by,  just  so  far  must  the 
improvements  of  fifty  years  from  now  be  over  the  present.  The 
mistakes  of  the  past  cannot  be  remedied  but  the  lessons  can  be 
taken  to  heart  and  the  actions  of  the  future  based  upon  those 
same  lessons. 


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